This   book   is   DUE   on   the  last   date   stamped   below 


APR  5    1M* 
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2     19/ 


ikti 


JUN13RECD 
FEB  1  8  1960 


JAW 


&H  IS 


1939 


""orm  L-9-15»i-8,'24 


Greece  of  the  Hellenes 


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Greece  of  the  Hellenes 


By 

Lucy   M.  J.    Garnett 

AUTHOR    OF    "  TURKEY   OF   THE    OTTOMANS," 

"  MYSTICISM    AND    MAGIC    IN    TURKEY,"    ETC. 

TRANSLATOR    OF    "  GREEK    FOLK-POESY  " 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

597-599    EIFTH    AVENUE 

1914 


65792 


By  the  same  Author 

Mysticism    and    Magic     in 
Turkey 

AN     ACCOUNT     OF     THE     RELIGIOUS 
DOCTRINES,     MONASTIC     ORGANISA- 
TION,    AND     ECSTATIC     POWERS     OF 
THE    DERVISH    ORDERS. 

By   LUCY   M.   J.    GARNETT. 
In  crown  8vo,  cloth  gilt,  with 
illustrations. 
"  Miss  Lucy  Garnetl  has  collected  a  great  ^tore 
of  curious  learning  about   the  various  monastic 
orders  of  Turkev.      Here  you  may  read  much  of 
their  legendary  origin,  glance  at  fragments  of  their 
symbolical  poetrv,  and  follow  curious  descriptions 
oi  their  rites  of  initiation,  their  singular  cults,  and 
their   costumes   and   habits.     The   author's  com- 
petence   and    industry    are    beyond    doubt    and 
praise."—  Nation. 


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By   LUCY   M.  J.    GARNETT. 

In  imperial  16mo,  cloth  gilt,  with  about 

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G 


•4 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. 


CkVO 


r-, 


H 


I.  THE    MODERN    HELLENES   . 

II.  GOVERNMENT  . 

III.  ARMY,    NAVY   AND    POLICE 

IV.  JUSTICE 
V.  THE    MONARCHY 

VI.  EDUCATION       .... 

VII.  LITERATURE   AND   ART 

VIII.  THE   CHURCH   AND   THE   CLERGY 

IX.  MONKS   AND   MONASTERIES 

X.  NATURAL   PRODUCTS   AND    COMMERCE 

XI.  RURAL   LIFE   AND   PURSUITS 

XII.  URBAN    AND    SOCIAL   LIFE 

XIII.  FESTAL    LIFE    .... 

XIV.  CLASSIC    SURVIVALS 
XV.  HOME   LIFE   AND    WOMEN'S   WORK 

XVI.  FAMILY   CEREMONIES 

XVII.  TRAITS   OF   GREEK   CHARACTER   . 

INDEX 


PAGE 
1 

14 

29 

41 

49 

60 

72 

87 

100 

116 

132 

146 

160 

179 

193 

209 

227 

243 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE    HARBOUR   OF   THERA 


Frontispiece 

Facing  page 

A   VILLAGER   OF    ELEUSIS 8 

GYPSY   GIRLS      ........  10 

ISRAELITES   OF   SALONICA   IN    HOLIDAY   COSTUME     .             .  12 

M.    ELEVTHERIOS   VENIZELOS           .....  16 

M.    GEORGE   THEOTOKES         ......  22 

M.    SPIROS   MERKOURIS            ......  28 

ONE   OF   THE   ROYAL   BODYGUARD             ....  34 

A   CRETAN    GENDARME            ......  40 

HIS   MAJESTY   THE    KING   OF   THE    HELLENES               .             .  50 

HER   MAJESTY   QUEEN    SOPHIA        .....  52 

H.R.H.    THE   CROWN    PRINCE   OF   GREECE            ...  54 

THE   ROYAL    PALACE,    FROM   THE   PARTHENON.              .             .  56 

THE   NATIONAL   MUSEUM,    ATHENS            ....  76 

ATHENS,    THE   AKROPOLIS     ......  80 

TEMPLE   OF  THE   CARYATIDS,    AKROPOLIS         ...  84 

A   GREEK   PATRIARCH 88 

A   GREEK   PARISH   PRIEST      ......  92 

THE   CHURCH   OF   ST.    GEORGE,    SALONICA          ...  98 

MONASTERY   OF   CARACALLA,    MOUNT   ATHOS  .             .             .  106 
THE   PORT   AND   TOWN  OF   PIR^US           .             .             .             .120 

MACEDONIAN    PEASANT   WOMEN     .  .  .  .  .138 

VILLAGERS   OF   EASTERN    MACEDONIA     .  .  .  .142 

ATHENS   FROM   THE   PROPYLEUM   .....  146 

A   STREET   IN    SALONICA         .  .  .  .  .  .152 

THE   THESEUM 166 

A   WOMAN   OF   MEGARA 176 

RUINS    OF    DELPHI.       THE    SACRED    WAY  AND  THE  GREAT 

ALTAR 180 

PEASANT   WOMEN    OF   ELEUSIS       .....  202 

A   GREEK   LADY   IN    NATIONAL   DRESS     ....  206 

THE    MAMMt 216 

MARATHON.      TOMB   OF   THE    129   SLAIN    ATHENIANS              .  240 


GREECE 
OF    THE    HELLENES 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    MODERN    HELLENES 

The  question  whether  the  present  inhabitants  of  Greece 
may  claim  to  be  lineal  descendants  of  those  who  peopled  the 

country  in  the  age  of  its  greatest  glory  has 

Mixture  of      occupied    the    attention    of    many    eminent 

Greece"        scholars  who,  during  the  last  half  century 

or  more,  have  propounded  a  variety  of  theories 
on  the  subject.  Fallmerayer,  for  instance,  maintained  the 
old  Greek  race  to  be  extinct  ;  but  his  theory  has  been  effectu- 
ally refuted  by  the  subsequent  researches  of  Ross,  Ellissen 
and  Kopf.  Professor  Mahaffy  and  Sir  Richard  Jebb  have 
declared  the  modern  Hellene  to  be  not  less  Greek  than  his 
language  ;  while  Dr.  Philippson  and  Mr.  Hogarth,  among  a 
number  of  other  students,  seem  to  agree  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Hellenic  Kingdom  are  a  very  mixed  race,  those  among 
them  who  may  be  regarded  as  undoubtedly  of  Greek  descent 
forming  but  one  element  in  a  vast  Hellenised  conglomerate 
of  all  the  races  that  have,  during  the  past  two  thousand  years, 
invaded  and  settled  in  South-eastern  Europe.  Seeing,  how- 
ever, that  this  Hellenic  element  was  able  to  impose  its  language 
and  traditions  on  all  the  other  elements,  it  cannot  have  been 
very  inconsiderable  ;  and  the  great  number  of  Greek  dialects 
in  existence  at  the  present  day  would  seem  to  prove  an 
independent  continuity  of  tradition — and  also,  consequently, 
of  Greek  descent — in  all  the  various  localities  in  which  they 
are  in  use. 

1 
i— (3385) 


2  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

The  average  Greek  of  to-day,  and  more  especially  if  he  be 
a  townsman,  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  perfect  type  of 
physical  beauty ;  but  neither  probably  was  the  average 
Greek  of  Praxiteles'  day.  Yet  one  may  from  time  to  time 
meet,  alike  in  the  Hellenic  Kingdom,  in  the  islands  and 
coastlands  of  the  JEgean,  and  in  both  the  higher  and  the 
lower  strata  of  society,  with  a  type  of  quite  classical  purity — 
the  broad  low  forehead,  the  straight  nose,  dark  lustrous  eye 
and  firmly  rounded  chin  and  throat  of  ancient  statues.  The 
figure,  too,  of  one  of  these  classic  survivals  will  usually  be 
above  the  middle  height,  erect  and  well  poised,  the  hands 
and  feet  small,  the  latter  often  exhibiting  the  peculiarity 
noticeable  in  Greek  statuary  of  the  second  toe  being  of  the 
same  length  as  the  first.  The  mixture  of  races  in  Greece  is, 
however,  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  diversity  of  types  found 
within  the  limits  of  the  Greek  Kingdom,  a  certain  type  being 
as  a  rule  special  to  a  certain  district,  though  representatives 
of  all  may  be  found  among  the  populations  of  the  larger 
towns,  and  the  streets  of  Athens  offer  excellent  opportunities 
for  studying  these  various  types.  For  here  may  be  seen — 
possibly  forming  a  single  group  in  a  kafeneion — the  swarthy, 
black-eyed,  Asiatic-looking  peasant  of  Thessaly,  the  brown 
or  fair-haired  and  blue-eyed  Messenian  or  Arcadian,  the 
long-headed  Islander  from  Chios,  and  perhaps  a  further 
type  seemingly  akin  to  neither,  with  a  skin  of  clear  olive 
utterly  different  from  that  of  either  the  southern  Spaniard 
or  the  Italian.  The  blue-eyed  type  is  found  here  and  there  in 
other  parts  of  the  Peloponnesos,  as  also  among  the  Sphakiote 
highlanders  of  Crete  who  so  long  bravely  withstood  the  armies 
of  the  Sultan.  And  in  the  remote  village  of  Apeiranthotes 
in  the  island  of  Naxos  dwells  a  community  believed  to  be  of 
Cretan  origin,  for  the  most  part  blonde  in  complexion,  and 
speaking  a  dialect  of  its  own,  the  members  of  which  continue 
to  be  regarded  by  their  neighbours  as  strangers  and  foreigners. 
This  type  is,  indeed,  most  common  in  the  wilder  parts  of 
Greece  where  the  inhabitants  have  had  from  time  immemorial 


The  Modern  Hellenes  3 

little  or  no  intercourse  with  the  outside  world  ;  and  it  is  in 
such  localities  that  the  most  perfect  types  of  the  Greek  race 
are  still  to  be  met  with. 

Isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  Peloponnesos  by  geographical 

boundaries  and  lack  of  communication  by  land,  two  distinct 

elements  of  the  population,  both  presenting 

_  ,The  curious  and   interesting   features,  are  to  be 

I  ZaJCOUCfl 

found  respectively  on  the  easternmost  and  the 
midmost  of  the  three  mountainous  southern  promontories 
of  the  Morea.  On  the  former,  the  ancient  Laconia  which 
terminates  in  Cape  Malea,  dwell  the  Tzakones,  a  race  who 
formerly  occupied  all  the  territory  between  this  cape  and 
Argolis,  but  now  number  only  about  15,000  families,  two- 
thirds  of  whom  inhabit  the  town  of  Leonidi  on  the  Gulf  of 
Nauplia,  the  remainder  being  found  in  a  number  of  villages 
between  Nauplia  and  Monembasia.  In  mediaeval  times 
their  vessels  traded  throughout  the  Levant  and  served 
in  the  fleets  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors,  a  considerable  colony 
of  Tzakone  families  being  established  at  Constantinople, 
where  their  skill  as  mariners  was  greatly  appreciated.  At 
the  present  day  they  enjoy  the  reputation  of  being  an  honest 
and  peaceable  people,  still  making  use  among  themselves  of 
an  idiom  which  has  been  pronounced  by  philologists  to  be  a 
survival  of  a  Doric  dialect,  the  digamma  being  preserved  in 
some  words,  and  the  Doric  alpha  used  in  place  of  the  Attic 
eta.  The  Athenian  philologist  Dr.  Deffner,  who  has  made  a 
special  study  of  the  Tzakones  and  their  language,  regards 
this  people  as  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Lakonians,  and 
their  speech — which  is  of  a  more  ancient  type  than  any  other 
surviving  Greek  dialect — he  terms  Neo-Doric.  There  is 
accordingly  some  warrant  for  the  assumption  that  the 
Tzakones  are  more  directly  descended  from  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Greece  than  is  any  other  section  of  its 
present  population.  And  though  the  Greek  schoolmaster 
is  abroad  in  Laconia  as  elsewhere,  this  old  Doric  speech 
will  probably  long  continue  to  be  spoken  in  that  province, 


4  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and    especially   by  the   denizens   of    its   remoter   mountain 
hamlets. 

The  narrow  rocky  promontory  of  Mane  or  Maina,  ter- 
minating in  Cape  Matapan,  is  the  home  of  another  distinct 

element,    the    Manidte,    or    Mainotes,    who 
M  inot  s        remained  pagan  until  nearly  the  end  of  the 

ninth  century,  and  among  whom  the  clan 
system  still  prevails,  together  with  other  somewhat  primitive 
social  conditions.  Notorious  as  pirates  in  former  centuries 
were  the  Mainotes — a  certain  section  of  them  at  least  ;  but 
at  the  present  day  their  roving  instincts  find  no  outlet  beyond 
emigration  to  America,  while  their  fighting  instincts  lead 
many  into  the  army  both  as  officers  and  soldiers  by  profession. 
As  their  native  province  offers  few  chances  of  a  livelihood, 
a  considerable  number  of  young  men  betake  themselves  to 
other  parts  of  Greece  in  search  of  more  profitable  employ- 
ment, and  many  Mainotes  may  be  found  among  the  miners 
at  Lavrion  and  the  factory  operatives  at  the  Piraeus.  The 
small  amount  of  agricultural  labour  called  for  in  Maina  is 
undertaken  chiefly  by  the  women,  and  the  sturdy  Mainote 
mother,  while  about  her  household  avocations,  hangs  her 
baby  in  its  sheepskin  bag  on  a  peg  fixed  in  the  wall,  and 
when  at  work  in  the  field  or  garden  suspends  it  from  the 
nearest  tree,  where  it  rocks  safe  from  prowling  wolf,  fox  or 
eagle. 

Though  to  a  great  extent  a  land  of  rocks,  Maina  is  not, 
however,  all  barren,  its  most  arid  region,  Mesa-Maina,  lying 
along  the  central  mountain  ridge  and  the  sea-surrounded  spur 
of  Matapan, where  grain  is  a  luxury  and  the  main  articles  of  diet 
consist  of  a  black  bread  made  from  lupin  beans — the  "  grapes 
of  Maina,"  and  the  fruit  of  the  wild  cactus.  On  the  lower 
levels  the  olive  and  the  vallonia  oak  flourish,  the  fruit  of  the 
latter  and  the  oil  produced  from  that  of  the  former  being 
exported,  as  are  also  the  quails  caught  in  great  numbers  in 
certain  localities  one  of  which,  Porto  Quaglio,  derives  its  name 
from  these  delicious  little  birds. 


The  Modern  Hellenes  5 

The  Mainotes  claim  to  be  descended  from  the  ancient 
Spartans,  and  boast  that  they  have  never  been  conquered ; 
nor  have  they  certainly  willingly  submitted  to  foreign  control. 
Villehardouin,  however,  was  able  in  1468  to  build  his  castle 
of  Grant  Maigne  near  Matapan  ;  and  in  1601  Mane  was  ravaged 
by  Catalonian  invaders.  But  though  thirteen  years  later 
they  were  compelled  by  the  Turks  to  acknowledge  their 
supremacy  and  pay  an  annual  tribute,  its  inhabitants  never 
permitted  a  Turkish  governor  to  take  up  his  residence  among 
them.  The  tribute  also  would  appear,  however,  to  have 
been  merely  nominal,  consisting  of  as  many  gold  coins  as 
would  cover  the  blade  of  a  sabre.  According  to  one  tradition, 
it  was  always  thus  presented  to  the  Ottoman  authorities, 
though  anothei  asserts  that  it  was  tendered  in  a  purse 
suspended  on  a  sabre-point.  A  special  system  of  taxation 
has  also  survived  in  Maina,  as  in  Corfu,  the  Mainotes  con- 
tributing to  the  State  merely  an  export  duty  on  olive  oil. 
Like  mountaineers  generally,  the  Mainotes  are  not  without 
many  rugged  virtues,  their  notions  of  hospitality  being  very 
strict,  and  the  protection  of  a  guest  esteemed  a  sacred  duty. 
A  host  will,  indeed,  deem  himself  in  honour  bound  to  defend 
even  with  his  life  a  stranger  who  may  have  sought  safety  under 
his  roof. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  once  numerous  mediaeval 
fortified  towers  of  Maina  have  survived  the  order  for  their 

destruction    issued   by   the    Government    of 
Vendetta        King  Otho  early  in   the  last   century,   and 

within  their  loopholed  walls  the  clansmen 
still  take  refuge  during  the  terrible  blood-feuds  that  still  from 
time  to  time  arise  between  Mainote  families.  For  while 
far  less  common  now  than  formerly,  the  vendetta — which 
would  indeed  seem  to  have  originated  in  Maina1 — still  sur- 
vives, notwithstanding  its  condemnation  by  the  law  of  the 

1  The  vendetta  of  Corsica  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into 
that  island  by  a  colony  of  Mainotes  which  settled  in  1673  at  Cargese, 
where  their  descendants  are  still  to  be  found. 


6  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

land.  And  in  the  opinion  of  those  well  acquainted  with  the 
country  it  is  owing  to  the  persistence  of  this  unwritten  social 
code  that  crimes  of  violence  are  less  frequent  in  Maina  than 
in  the  rest  of  Greece,  the  consequences  being  there  of  such  a 
serious  character.  For  in  a  case  of  vendetta,  all  the  male 
relatives  of  a  murdered  man  are  in  duty  bound  to  avenge 
his  death  by  killing,  if  not  the  actual  murderer,  the  most 
important  member  of  his  family,  who  collectively,  according 
to  the  local  phrase,  "  owe  blood."  The  unwritten  code  of 
the  vendetta  is,  however,  regulated  by  a  rigid  method  of 
procedure,  and  a  system  of  strict  etiquette  is  observed  in 
carrying  out  this  local  conception  of  justice.  No  Mainote, 
for  instance,  will  enter  on  a  blood-feud  without  due  notice 
to  his  enemies,  or  attack  him  outside  Maina.  If  a  member 
of  a  threatened  family,  or  even  the  actual  murderer  himself, 
is  under  the  necessity  of  quitting  his  fortified  tower  in  the 
course  of  a  feud  he  may  do  so  with  impunity  if  escorted  by 
a  friend  unrelated  to  either  party,  as  xevgaltes. x  Any  man  also 
who  may  be  acting  as  guide  to  a  guest  or  stranger  is  allowed 
to  pass  on  his  way  unharmed.  Under  no  circumstances 
is  a  woman  ever  molested  ;  and  during  the  progress  of  a  ven- 
detta the  women  and  girls  of  a  family  or  clan  go  freely  forth 
from  the  beleaguered  strongholds  to  bring  water  to  their 
inmates.  When  it  is  desired  to  end  a  blood-feud,  a  request 
to  that  effect  is  conveyed  to  the  relatives  of  the  injured  family, 
and,  if  acceded  to,  every  member  of  the  murderer's  clan  must 
accompany  their  chief  to  ask  forgiveness  for  the  crime.  In 
presence  of  all,  the  chief  kneels,  and  the  murdered  man's 
nearest  of  kin  asks  him  "  Wilt  thou  do  my  behest  ?  Wilt 
thou,  if  I  bid  thee,  cast  thyself  into  the  sea  ?  "  The  chief 
replies  in  appropriate  phrase,  and  the  reconciliation  effected, 
the  mother  of  the  man  last  slain  in  the  feud  adopts  his  slayer 
as  her  son,  he  on  his  side  solemnly  engaging  to  regard  her  as 
more  than  a  mother.  Such  a  reconciliation  is  termed  an 
Agdpe,  and  is  never  known  to  be  broken. 
1  Derived  from  the  verb  ^evyia-w,  "  I  accompany." 


The  Modern  Hellenes  7 

The  Latin  element  in  the  Greek  population  must  be  looked 

for  chiefly  in  the  islands,  and  especially  in  the  Cyclades,  where 

it  was  introduced  during  the  long  domination 

t  ^ee~s . °:       in  those  islands  of  the  Venetian  and  other 
Latin  Origin.  ,.  ,  , 

Italian    adventurers    who,    at    the    time    of 

the  Fourth  Crusade,  carved  out  for  themselves  principalities 

from  the  decaying  Byzantine  Empire,  and  proved  formidable 

rivals  of  the  Turks  in  the  Levant.     Naxos,  the  largest  and 

fairest  of  the  Cyclades,  was  ruled  by  Latin  Dukes  for  a  period 

of  three  and  a  half  centuries  ;    Mykonos  and  Tenos  also 

remained  in  Venetian  hands  until  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 

century ;    and  Corfu  had  been  a  possession  of  the  Republic 

of  St.  Mark  for  400  years  when  in  1797  that  island  was  captured 

by  the   French.     Syra   contains   a   mediaeval   and   Catholic 

Latin  town  as  well  as  the  modern  Greek  town  of  Hermou- 

polis,  which  dates  from  the  beginning  of  last  century  only, 

when  Sciote  fugitives  from  Turkish  tyranny  sought  refuge 

in  that  island.     And  at  Tenos  and  Mykonos  representatives 

may  also  be  found  of  the  noble  Venetian  families  by  whom 

they  were  formerly  ruled.     Some  of  these  formerly  Roman 

Catholic   families   now   conform   to   the   national   Orthodox 

creed,  though  a  considerable  number  have  remained  faithful 

to  the  Church  of  their  fathers  which,  in  these  localities,  is 

served  by  an  enlightened  clergy  of  French  nationality. 

Of   Latin   race   must   also   be   considered  the   Vlachs   or 

Wallachs.     In   Southern   and   Central   Greece   this   element 

of  the  population  is  chiefly  represented  by 
N       j  the  shepherds  who,  roaming  in  summer  with 

their  immense  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  over 
the  mountains  and  in  winter  encamping  in  the  lowlands, 
form  a  strange  and  picturesque  feature  of  Greek  rural  life. 
So  essentially  pastoral  and  nomadic  in  its  propensities  is 
indeed  one  section  of  this  people  that  their  very  name  has 
become  among  the  surrounding  races  a  synonym  for 
"  shepherd."  Previously  to  the  Ottoman  Conquest,  the 
Vlachs   occupied   the   plains   of   Thessaly   in   such   numbers 


8  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

that  the  province  had  acquired  the  name  of  "  Great 
Wallachia,"  while  iEtolia  and  Acarnania  were  termed  "  Little 
Wallachia."  A  considerable  section  of  the  Vlachs,  however, 
including  all  those  of  the  burgher  class,  retired  before  the 
invading  Turks  into  the  mountain  ranges  of  Pelion  and 
Olympus  where  they  founded  new  settlements,  the  most 
considerable  of  which  are  Voskopoli — "  The  Shepherd's 
Town,"  Vlacho-livadia — "  The  Meadows  of  the  Vlachs  "  on 
the  western  slopes  of  Olympus,  and  Mezzovo  in  the  heart  of 
Pindus.  Mezzovo  is  the  most  picturesque  situated  town  it  is 
possible  to  imagine,  clinging  to  both  sides  of  a  sublime  ravine, 
and  overhung  by  the  highest  crests  of  Pindus  which  tower 
so  perpendicularly  on  either  hand  that  not  till  long  after 
sunrise  is  the  Proselion  (irpos  rfkiov)  or  "  Sunnyside,"  of  the 
town  out  of  shadow  ;  while  the  opposite  side  is  appropriately 
termed  the  Anelion  (dv  rfkiov)  or  "  Sunless."  Several  Vlach 
villages  surround  the  town,  the  most  remarkable  of  these  being 
Kalyarites,  standing  as  it  does  on  a  hillside  so  steep  that  the 
highest  houses  are  500  feet  above  the  lowest,  and  every  street 
is  a  zigzag  staircase. 

The  roving  propensities  of  the  Vlachs  above  referred  to 
are  not  confined  to  the  shepherd  class,  the  burghers  being 
also  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  pursuits  which  require  them 
to  lead  a  more  or  less  nomadic  life.  Among  them  are  wealthy 
merchants  who  trade  in  all  the  countries  of  southern  and 
central  Europe,  and  return  only  occasionally  to  their  mountain 
homes,  besides  more  humble  traders  travelling  only  with  their 
pack-mules  in  Greece  and  the  Balkan  States  carrying  goods 
for  sale  in  the  smaller  towns  and  villages  of  the  interior,  like 
the  peddlers  in  England  in  bygone  days  when,  as  still  in  the 
East,  shops  were  few  in  the  towns  and  non-existent  in  rural 
districts.  And  in  all  the  towns  of  Greece  and  the  Balkan 
Peninsula  generally  may  be  found  an  industrial  class  of  Vlachs 
who  work  there  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  at  various 
handicraft  trades. 
Among    the     most     numerously    represented     people     of 


Alinari 


A   VILLAGER   OF   ELEUSIS 


Florence 


The  Modern  Hellenes  9 

non-Hellenic  race  established  in  Greece  are  the  Albanians 
who  form  a  valuable  element  of  the  population,  and,  though 
resident  in  some  parts  of  the  country  for  over 
s^'bania"  500  years,  have  still  retained  not  only  their 
native  tongue  and  their  own  manners,  customs 
and  costumes,  but  also  to  a  great  extent  a  separate  corporate 
existence.  Descending  first  into  Thessaly  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century  from  Southern  Albania,  they  successfully 
disputed  the  ground  with  the  pastoral  Vlachs  already  settled 
there,  and  a  hundred  years  later  were  invited  by  the  Frankish 
Duke  of  Athens,  Antonio  Acciajuoli,  to  colonise  the  province 
of  Attica,  which  had  been  depleted  of  its  population  by  the 
plague  and  by  Ottoman  invasions.  Lands  in  the  centre  and 
south-west  of  the  Peloponnesos  had  also  towards  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  been  conferred  on  colonies  of  Albanians  by 
the  Byzantine  Governor  of  Mistra  ;  and  subsequently,  under 
the  Despot  Theodore  Palaeologos  I,  10,000  Albanian  families 
were  also  settled  in  other  parts  of  the  same  peninsula.  During 
the  Greek  War  of  Independence,  Albanian  volunteers  fought 
side  by  side  with  the  Greek  patriots  and  figured  in  not  a  few  of 
the  most  heroic  episodes  of  that  heroic  struggle.  At  the  present 
day  a  considerable  extent  of  Attica  is  people  by  Albanians. 
At  Eleusis  the  country  folk  wear  the  Albanian  costume  and 
speak  among  themselves  a  dialect  of  Albanian  in  addition  to 
the  vernacular  Greek.  Some  of  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  also, 
and  notably  Hydra,  Spetsai  and  Aigina,  contain  Albanian 
settlements  ;  and  emigrants  of  this  race  from  Thessaly  were 
introduced  into  southern  Euboia  and  northern  Andros, 
both  of  which  islands  had  been  largely  depopulated  by 
Turkish  corsairs  in  the  later  years  of  Venetian  domination 
in  these  waters.  Save  at  Corfu,  however,  where  descendants 
of  the  exiled  Souliots  may  be  found  at  the  village  of  Kanalion 
Arvanetikou,  no  Albanians  inhabit  the  Ionian  Islands. 

Greek  influence  has  for  centuries  past  moulded  not  only 
that  section  of  the  Albanian  race  domiciled  within  the  region 
included  for  nearly  a  century  past  in  the  Greek  Kingdom, 


10  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

but  also  the  Tosks  or  Southern  Albanians  generally,  all  of 

whom  profess  the  creed  of  the  Orthodox  Church  ;    and  it  is 

often  difficult  to  distinguish  between  Greek  and  Tosk  not  only 

in  Greece  but  also  in  Epirus  and  Macedonia.     The  Greek 

language  is  very  extensively  used  by  the  Tosks,  who  also 

write  their  own  language  in  Greek  characters  ;   while,  on  the 

other  hand,  the  Hellenes  have  adopted  as  their  own  the 

national  costume  of  their  Albanian   neighbours,   the  white 

fustanella,  or  kilt,  forming  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  Tosk 

branch  of  this  race.     The  Albanian  of  the  Peloponnesos  has, 

however,  become  much  more  completely  Hellenised  than  his 

compatriot  settled  in  Attica,  who  has  hitherto  more  or  less 

preserved  his  native  tongue. 

Despite  the  tolerance  displayed  by  the  Greeks  in  their  own 

country  towards  members  of  other  religious  systems,   few 

Turks  now  remain  in  the  country,  though  a 

The  Turkish     considerable  number  of  Moslems  were  to  be 
Remnant.  . 

found  in  Thessaly  for  some  years  after  its 

peaceable  cession  to  Greece  in  1882. 1  These  were  for  the 
most  part  descendants  of  the  6,000  families  from  Anatolia  who, 
at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
centuries  migrated  from  Iconium,  the  modern  Konia,  and 
settled  on  the  Thessalian  plains.  By  the  neighbouring  popu- 
lations they  were  known  as  Koniaridhes,  or  men  of  Konia, 
a  term  which  distinguished  them  from  the  Ottoman  Turks 
who  subsequently  overran  South-eastern  Europe.  After  the 
treaty  by  which — notwithstanding  the  Turkish  victories  of 
1897 — that  province  again  reverted  to  Greece,  national  pride, 
combined  with  other  causes,  impelled  the  great  Turkish 
Beys  to  abandon  the  lands  which  they  had  for  centuries 
occupied  as  a  Moslem  aristocracy,  and  in  many  towns  and 
villages  once  inhabited  by  a  numerous  Turkish  population  not 
one  Moslem  family  is  now  to  be  met  with.  It  is,  indeed,  only 
here  and  there  that  a  small  community  of  Moslems  now 

1  After  the   cession  to  Greece  of  Thessaly,   two  Moslem  notables 
of  this  province  were  elected  Deputies  and  sat  in  the  Greek  Chamber. 


The  Modern  Hellenes  11 

remains  in  a  provincial  town  or  village  of  Thessaly,  and 
before  long  the  ruined  mosques  and  the  system  of  land  tenure 
will  be  probably  the  only  remaining  vestiges  of  Ottoman  rule 
in  that  province.  The  Moslems  of  Crete — contemptuously 
termed  by  their  fellow-islanders  Turkolddes,  but  differing 
only  in  faith  from  the  other  inhabitants— who  formerly  con- 
stituted one-third  of  the  population  of  that  island,  have, 
since  the  establishment  of  Cretan  autonomy,  diminished  to 
one-tenth.  With  the  revision  of  the  map  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula  made  necessary  by  the  results  of  the  recent  war, 
a  very  considerable  Moslem  population  will,  however,  tem- 
porarily at  least,  again  be  included  within  the  frontiers  of 
the  Hellenic  Kingdom. 

In  a  village  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  Athens  one  may 
come  across  a  little  colony  of  Bavarians  founded  in   1837 

during  the  reign  of  King  Otho,  who  are  easily 
A  (?^varian      distinguishable  from  their  neighbours  by  their 

fair  hair  and  blue  eyes,  if  not  by  their  speech, 
Greek  being  more  readily  spoken  by  the  present  generation 
than  the  German  of  their  grandparents.  In  the  Church  of 
this  Bavarian  colony  service  is  still  performed  according  to 
the  Roman  rite,  and  in  the  adjoining  graveyard,  though 
the  tombstones  bear  the  Greek  lettering,  the  names  of  those 
resting  below  are  invariably  German. 

Tolerant,  however,  though  the  Greeks  may  be  officially 
and  individually  towards  their  fellow -subjects  of  other  races 

and  creeds,  towards  the  Hebrews  the  collective 

c  Afwis  *        feeling    has  been,  and  still  is,  more  or  less 
Settlements.       ..,,..,,  ,  .    , 

hostile.     Jewish   settlements   have   certainly 

existed  in  Greece  from  very  early  times,  and  especially  in 

the  track  of  its  Frankish  invaders,  Hebrew  communities  being 

still  found  in  localities  where  their  special  commercial  abilities 

find  scope,  as,  for  instance,  at  Athens,  in  the  towns  of  Thessaly, 

at  Chalkis  in  Euboea  and  in  some  of  the  Ionian  islands.     In 

Corfu,  where  the  export  trade  in  olive  oil,  wine,  etc.,  affords 

an  opening  for  their  capacities,  they  are  found  to  the  number 


12  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

of  3,000  souls,  and  still  occupy  a  separate  quarter  of  the 
town  which  is  known  as  "  Hebrew  Town,"  as  also  at  Zante. 
Nowhere  stronger  than  among  the  Greeks  has  also  been  the 
mediaeval  hatred  of  the  Jews,  or  more  frequent  the  Judenhetze 
excited  by  reports  of  "  ritual  murders  "  perpetrated  in  their 
ghettos,  of  which  the  victims  have  usually  been  Greek  boys 
whose  mutilated  bodies  were  subsequently  found  on  river 
marge  or  seashore.  An  instance  of  such  a  crime  is  recorded 
in  a  curious  early  eighteenth  century  Greek  ballad  of  Zante, l 
and  in  an  Act  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Nikolas  of  the  Foreigners  the  event  is  referred  to  at 
considerable  length. 2  Some  twenty  years  ago  the  Corfiote 
Greeks  brought  a  similar  accusation  against  their  Jewish 
fellow-townsmen,  and  a  serious  riot  ensued.  And  during 
my  residence  at   Smyrna  the  coincidence  of  a  Greek  child 

having    been    found    drowned    in    the    river 
"Judenhetze."   Meles    at     Passover-tide    gave    rise    to    a 

Judenhetze  which  might  have  assumed  serious 
proportions  but  for  the  prompt  action  of  the  Ottoman 
authorities  in  dispersing  the  rioters.  The  Greek  population 
openly  attacked  Jews  in  the  main  thoroughfares,  and  the 
assailed,  not  daring  to  retaliate,  sought  refuge  in  the  khans  of 
the  foreign  merchants  and  the  courtyards  of  the  Consulates. 
The  incorporation  of  Salonica  into  the  Greek  Kingdom  will 
also  add  some  80,000  souls  to  the  Jewish  element  in  the 
country,  the  majority  of  the  population  of  that  important 
city  being  of  the  Hebrew  persuasion.  A  colony  of  this  race 
appears  to  have  been  settled  here  from  very  ancient  times — 

1  A  translation  of  this  ballad  may  be  found  in  my  Greek  Folkpoesy, 
Vol.  1,  p.  290. 

*  The  Act  thus  concludes  :  "  After  these  events,  the  municipality 
of  Zante  promulgated  a  decree  that  the  Jews,  who  had  previously 
been  restricted  to  no  particular  quarter,  should  thenceforward  be 
confined  to  the  Ghetto,  which  consists  of  two  narrow  streets  intersecting 
each  other  so  as  to  form  a  cross.  The  ends  of  these  streets  were  walled 
up,  gates  only  being  left,  over  which  were  placed  the  arms  of  St.  Mark 
and  the  inscription  in  cruce  quia  crucifixerunt.  (Compare 
CHIOTIS  'laropiKu  ' ATrofj.i>r)/j.ovtviJ.a.Ta.      Vol.   3,   p.   348.) 


ISRAELITES    OF    SALON ICA 
In  Holiday  Costume 


The  Modern  Hellenes  13 

according  to  local  tradition  from  the  reign  of  Alexander  of 
Macedon  ;    and  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Spain  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  in  1493  caused  so  great  an  influx  at 
Salonica  as  to  convert  the  former  compara- 
Spamsh         tively  insignificant   colony  into   the   largest 
in  existence.     The  overwhelming  numbers  of 
the  immigrants  appear,  indeed,  to  have  completely  absorbed 
the  native  Jewish  element ;    and  the  Hispano-Hebraic  idiom 
which  they  brought  with  them  has  long  been  both  the  vernacu- 
lar and  literary  language  of  the  race  throughout  the  Levant. 
Under  Ottoman  rule  the  Greeks  and  Jews  of  Salonica  have 
not  loved  one  another  ;    and  what  their  mutual  relations  will 
be  now  that  the  Hellenes  are  the  ruling  minority  can  hardly 
yet  be  foreseen. 

Communities  of  Gypsies  are  known  to  have  arrived  in  the 
Greek  Islands  early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  by  1346 
had  reached  Corfu.  Their  encampments  may 
Gypsies.  still  be  met  with  here  and  there  on  the  main- 
land also.  In  Northern  Greece  they  are 
perhaps  more  common,  considerable  numbers,  both  sedentary 
and  nomad,  inhabiting  the  Balkan  peninsula.  The  Tvfyroi,,  as 
this  race  is  termed  by  the  Greeks,  often  pursue  the  calling  of 
smiths  for  which  the  name  has  become  almost  a  synonym. 
Though  professing  in  some  localities  Christianity  and  in 
others  the  creed  of  the  Prophet,  the  Gypsies  are  equally 
execrated  by  Hellenes  and  Ottomans  ;  and  according  to  the 
Greek  folk-ballads  connected  with  Good  Friday,  it  was  a 
"  Gypsy  dog  "  who  was  commissioned  by  the  Jews  to  shape 
the  nails  used  at  the  Crucifixion,  and  for  that  deed  was  cursed 
by  the  Virgin  Mary — 

"  Unto  the  Smith  they  hurried  them,  three  nails  they  bade  him  make 
them  : 
And  he  that  day  not  three  alone,  but  five  nails  for  them  fashioned. 

'  Thou  dog,  thou  Gypsy    dog,'    she     cried,    '  Heat    thou    no    coals 
henceforward  ! 
Should'st  thou  henceforward  embers  light,  the  wind  away  shall 
bear  them  I '  " 


CHAPTER  II 

GOVERNMENT 

The  Government  of  the  Hellenic  Kingdom  is  based  primarily 
on  the  Constitution  of  1864  which,  having  been  framed  at  a 
period  of  great  national  excitement,  is  even  more  democratic 
in  character  than  the  original  Constitution  of  1844.  Under 
this  charter,  the  country  is  governed  by  a  single  Chamber  of 
Representatives,  styled  the  Boule,  with  a  Cabinet  composed 
of  seven  Ministers  of  State  in  addition  to  the  Prime  Minister. 

The  number  of  Deputies  composing  the  Greek  Chamber 

has  varied  considerably.     For  though  by  the  terms  of  the 

Constitution    it   must    not   consist   of   fewer 

The  Chamber  t^an  15Q  ±0  wnjch  minimum  number  of 
members  it  was  reduced  in  1886  by  the  late 
M.  Trikoupis,  no  provision  seems  to  have  been  made  against 
over  representation  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  this  number  had,  for  party  purposes,  been  so  increased 
that  no  fewer  than  234  Deputies  were  returned  by  twenty-one 
electoral  divisions.  Two  successive  leaders  of  the  Chamber, 
M.  Theotokes  and  M.  Mavromichalis,  made  unsuccessful 
attempts  to  correct  this  abuse  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the 
accession  to  office  of  M.  Venizelos,  the  present  Prime  Minister, 
that  a  measure  of  reform  was  carried,  reducing  the  number  of 
parliamentary  representatives  to  181. 

Greek  Deputies,  as  well  as  Ministers,  receive  payment  for 
their  services  to  the  nation,  though  by  no  means  on  a  lavish 
scale,  the  former  being  entitled  to  the  sum  of  1,800  drachma 
(about  £72)  for  each  ordinary  session,  with  a  further  sum  of 
from  1,000  to  1,500  drachma  (£40  to  £60)  for  special  sessions 
when  such  are  held,  the  amount  being  decided  by  the  Boule 
itself,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Minister  of  Finance. 
Ministers  receive,   including  allowances,  the  modest  salary 

14 


Government  15 

of  £57  per  month,  without  pension  ;    while  the  emoluments 
of  the  Premier  are  only  slightly  in  excess  of  that  sum. 

The  Cabinet,  as  above  mentioned,  is  composed  of  eight 
Ministers  including  the  Premier,  who  represent  respectively 
Foreign  Affairs,  War,  Marine,  Finance,  the 
c  Tr e  Interior,  Education  (which  includes  Ecclesias- 

tical affairs),  Commerce  (which  includes 
Agriculture  and  National  Economy),  and  Justice.  Ministers 
may  hold  office  without  having  been  elected  as  Deputies ; 
but  in  that  case,  though  entitled  to  speak  in  the  Chamber, 
they  cannot  vote.  Until  quite  recently  a  Deputy  was  required 
to  be  over  thirty  years  of  age,  and  also,  if  not  a  native  of  the 
constituency  he  aspired  to  represent,  to  have  enjoyed  civic 
and  political  rights  in  it  for  at  least  two  years  prior  to  his 
candidature.  One  of  the  many  important  reforms  introduced 
by  the  present  government  has,  however,  reduced  the  age 
limit  of  Deputies  and  removed  the  former  restriction  as  to 
domicile.  Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  were,  until  lately, 
eligible  as  Deputies  ;  but  this  participation  of  officers  in  active 
politics  had  the  reverse  of  good  results  in  the  Chamber,  and  by 
a  recent  enactment  they  are  now  debarred  from  election. 
Elections  are  nominally  for  four  years,  but  a  Greek  Parliament 
seldom  lasts  so  long,  and  has  occasionally  been  dissolved 
before  as  many  weeks  had  elapsed.  Each  Candidate  is 
required  to  contribute  about  £8  to  the  expenses  of  the  Return- 
ing Officer  ;  but  this  sum  represents  only  a  small  proportion 
of  his  necessary  outlay,  the  cost  of  contesting  a  constituency 
varying  greatly  according  to  locality.  A  wealthy  candidate 
is,  however,  expected  to  spend  freely,  and  elections  are  said 
to  have  cost  some  Deputies  as  much  as  £1  per  vote.  The 
poll  takes  place  on  the  same  day  throughout  the  country ; 
manhood  suffrage  holds  sway ;  and  the  system  followed  is 
that  of  the  secret  ballot. 

The  opening  of  the  Greek  Parliament  is  observed  as  a 
great  social  function  which  partakes  also  of  a  semi-religious 
character.      Ministers  attend  in  evening  dress,  the  clergy  in 


16  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

their  vestments,  while  ladies  are  accorded  places  in  the 
body  of  the  Chamber.     The  proceedings,  which  commence 

at  10  a.m.,  are  opened  by  the  installation 
oTfhpadfamennt.    of  a  temPorary  President,  and  then  follows 

a  solemn  service  of  consecration  by  the 
Metropolitan,  as  the  Archbishop  of  Athens  is  termed,  assisted 
by  other  ecclesiastical  members  of  the  Holy  Synod,  and  a 
number  of  priests  and  deacons.  This  concluded,  the 
Metropolitan,  followed  by  the  Premier,  advances  to  a  table 
placed  in  the  centre  of  the  hall  on  which  stands  a  large  gilt 
vessel  containing  holy  water.  The  latter  kisses  the  Cross 
held  out  to  him  by  the  Prelate,  who,  dipping  a  sprig  of  olive 
in  the  water  strikes  him  lightly  with  it  on  the  brow.  When 
the  other  Ministers  who  have  followed  have  also  accomplished 
this  rite,  the  Premier  reascends  the  tribune  to  read  the  RoyaJ 
decree  convoking  the  Chamber,  at  the  conclusion  of  which 
the  proceedings  terminate.  At  the  next  sitting  the  election 
of  the  Speaker  takes  place,  it  being  customary  to  appoint  a 
new  one  every  session.  This  is  an  important  political  event, 
being  looked  upon  as  a  test  of  party  strength.  The  names 
of  the  Deputies  are  then  called  over  in  the  alphabetical  order 
of  their  Constituencies,  to  see  if  they  form  a  quorum.  The 
Constitution  of  1864  fixed  the  quorum  at  one-half,  plus  one, 
of  the  total  number  of  members  of  the  Chamber,  a  provision 
which  has  been  responsible  for  much  parliamentary  ob- 
struction. The  number  necessary  to  form  a  quorum  has, 
however,  been  greatly  reduced  under  the  reforming  govern- 
ment of  M.  Venizelos.  New  members  are  then  sworn  in  by  the 
Chaplain  of  the  Chamber,  a  conspicuous  figure  in  his  black  robes 
and  tall  black  head-dress,  and  cries  of  Axios — "  Worthy  "  ! 
resound  from  the  benches.  The  Chamber  then  proceeds  to  elect 
its  new  President.  Two  tellers  are  chosen,  two  ballot-boxes 
placed  on  the  tribune,  and  the  list  of  Deputies  is  again  called 
over.  The  members  for  each  constituency  advance  in  groups 
and  drop  into  one  of  the  boxes  a  paper  containing  the  name  of 
one  candidate  for  office,  a  teller  dropping  simultaneously  a  ball 


M.    ELEVTHERIOS   VENIZELOS 
Prime  Minister  of  Greece 


Government  17 

into  the  other  to  check  the  number  of  voters,  while  the  clerk 
at  the  table  also  crosses  off  from  a  list  each  member's  name  as  he 
records  his  vote.  The  balls  and  papers  are  then  respectively 
counted,  and  the  result  is  announced  by  the  acting  President, 
who  at  once  yields  his  place  to  the  newly  elected  President. 

Deputies  address  the  Chamber  either  from  the  benches 
or  from  the  President's  tribune,  as  they  may  prefer.  Good 
speakers,  as  a  rule,  adopt  the  latter  position 
Deputies.  for  their  harangues,  though  it  has  the  dis- 
advantage of  placing  them  with  their  backs 
not  only  to  the  Chair,  but  to  the  gallery  behind  it  assigned 
to  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  Though  Deputies,  as  a  rule, 
address  each  other  in  courteous  phrase,  a  speaker  is 
liable  to  be  interrupted  by  political  opponents,  when  an 
interchange  of  unseemly  personalities  may  follow,  the  presi- 
dential bell  requiring  to  be  repeatedly  sounded  before  order 
is  again  restored  and  the  business  of  the  House  can  be 
proceeded  with.  Duels  arising  out  of  parliamentary  criti- 
cisms are  also  not  unusual,  and  have  indeed  been  at  times  of 
such  frequent  occurrence  as  to  cause  little  general  excitement, 
especially  as  neither  of  the  parties  concerned  were  much,  if 
at  all,  the  worse  for  the  encounter. 

With  the  advent  to  power  in  November,  1910,  of  the  present 

Prime  Minister,  a  period  of  political  reform  was  inaugurated 

which    cannot    but   prove   of    the   greatest  benefit   to   the 

Hellenic    Kingdom.       And   a   brief  sketch  of  the  previous 

career  of  this  remarkable  man  will  not,  I  trust,  be  deemed 

out  of  place  here.      Born  in  the  island  of  Cerigo  in  1864, 

and  educated  at  the  Universities  of  Athens  and  Lausanne, 

M.  Eleutherios  Venizelos,  on  returning  home,  soon  became 

intimately  associated  with   the  leaders  of  all  the  various 

Greek    political    parties    among    whom    he 

V    iz&i16"08  sPeeo^y  acquired  a  position  of  considerable 

influence.     In  1896  he  first  identified  himself 

with  the  aspirations  of  the  Christians  of  Crete  for  union  with 

Greece  by  holding,  with  a  party  of  friends,  the  fortress  of 

2— (2385) 


18  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Malaxa,  near  Candia,  against  the  warships  of  the  Great  Powers. 
On  the  appointment  in  1898  of  Prince  George  as  High  Com- 
missioner of  that  island,  M.  Venizelos  was  offered  and 
accepted  a  post  in  the  Council  formed  to  assist  him  in  his  new 
duties,  and  measures  for  the  regeneration  of  Crete  were  at 
once  inaugurated,  M.  Venizelos  continuing  to  serve  the 
local  government  with  great  loyalty  and  ability  until  August, 
1909,  when  the  unanimous  invitation  of  the  Party  of  Reform 
opened  up  to  him  a  wider  sphere  of  political  usefulness. 
Fifteen  months  later  (November,  1910),  M.  Venizelos  and  his 
supporters  were  returned  at  the  polls  with  a  large  majority, 
and  he  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  Chamber  with  the 
dual  portfolios  of  War  and  the  Marine.  Possessed  of  a  thorough 
practical  knowledge  of  both  military  and  naval  affairs,  he 
speedily  gave  evidence,  as  Minister  of  the  sister  Services,  of 
unusual  administrative  talent.  The  subsequent  general  election 
of  March,  1912,  again  resulted  in  the  return  to  office  of  the 
Party  of  Reform,  and  this  time  with  an  overwhelming 
majority,  having  secured  150  out  of  a  possible  181  seats, 
the  remaining  thirty-one  being  divided  among  no  fewer  than 
five  different  parties,  those  of  MM.  Theotokes,  Rallis, 
Mavromichalis,  Za'imes,  and  the  small  party  of  so-called 
"  Independents." 

This  powerful  and  at  the  same  time  cohesive  majority 
has    enabled    M.    Venizelos   practically   to    revise    the    Con- 
stitution with  regard,  at  least,  to  all    such 

Political        enactments  as  were  found  to  stand  in  the 
Reform. 

way  of  necessary  reforms,  and  also  to  make 

possible  further  revision,  in  the  future,  of  its  non-fundamental 
provisions.  Among  the  large  number  of  important  adminis- 
trative changes  that  have  since  come  into  effect  may  be 
mentioned  (1)  the  creation  of  a  Council  of  State  entrusted 
with  the  double  duty  of  acting  as  a  consultative  body,  and  of 
drafting  Bills  for  presentation  to  the  Chamber ;  (2)  the 
creation  also  of  a  special  legal  tribunal  for  verifying  the 
mandates  of  Deputies,  which  had  previously  been  dealt  with 


Government  19 

by  a  naturally  biassed  Chamber  ;  (3)  the  transference  of 
responsibility  for  elementary  education  from  the  frequently 
incompetent  local  Councils  to  the  State  ;  (4)  enlargement 
of  the  functions  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  dealing  with  ad- 
ministrative abuses  ;  and  (5)  the  already  mentioned  reduction 
in  the  number  of  Deputies  necessary  to  form  a  parliamentary 
quorum,  and  removal  of  the  restrictions  with  regard  to 
residence  and  age  formerly  applying  to  political  candidates. 
Changes  in  legal  procedure,  greatly  facilitating  and  expediting 
the  business  of  the  Courts,  have  also  been  put  into  operation. 
For  purposes  of  revenue,  an  Income  tax  and  a  tax  on  arable 
land  have  been  levied,  the  former,  I  believe,  not  yet  effective, 
and  the  latter,  which  abolishes  the  ancient  system  of  tithes, 
as  yet  only  partially  enforced.  Various  minor  enactments, 
calculated  to  improve  the  economic  condition  of  the  rural 
population  especially  and  to  facilitate  the  operations  of  Local 
Councils,  must  also  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  present 
administration. 

But  more,  perhaps,  than  for  all  other  legislative  reforms,  does 
M.  Venizelos  deserve  his  country's  gratitude  for  so  courage- 
ously attacking  and  destroying  the  system  of  political  appoint- 
ments which  had  previously  been  the  bane  of  Greek  adminis- 
tration, and  at  the  same  time  establishing  the  correlative 
principle  of  removal  from  their  posts  of  officials  found  to  be 
incompetent  for  their  duties  or  lax  in  the  fulfilment  of  them. 
A  movement  had,  it  is  true,  been  on  foot  during  the  previous 
decade   for   promoting   the   establishment   of   a   permanent 

Civil  Service,  and  it  had  been  proposed  to 
The  Civil       convene   a   National   Assembly   for   making 

the  requisite  changes  in  the  Constitution. 
Rival  political  interests,  however,  stood  in  the  way  of  these 
proposed  measures,  desirable  though  they  were  on  all  hands 
acknowledged  to  be  ;  and  it  was  left  to  M.  Venizelos  to  deal 
with  the  evil,  his  overwhelming  majority  in  the  Chamber 
greatly  facilitating  the  task.  Under  the  old  system,  which 
finds  its  counterpart  in  the  Transatlantic  Republics,  every 


20  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Civil  Servant,  every  official  paid  by  the  State  above  the 
standing  of  an  elementary  school  teacher — with  the  exception 
of  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  University  Professors — 
lived  in  constant  apprehension  of  losing  his  post  by  the  fall 
of  the  Ministry  under  which  he  had  obtained  it ;  and  party 
politics  had  consequently  a  much  more  absorbing  interest 
for  these  employees  of  the  State  than  the  duties  of  the  posts 
of  which  they  held  so  insecure  a  tenure.  All  Government 
appointments  are  now,  on  the  other  hand,  obtainable  only  by 
competitive  examination,  and  promotion  is  no  longer  depend- 
ent on  political  influence.  To  each  Government  Department 
is  attached  an  examining  Board  of  seven  members,  three  of 
whom  only  are  officials  holding  appointments  in  such  depart- 
ments, the  remaining  four  being  either  University  Professors 
or  Judges  of  the  High  Courts. 

It  is  proposed,  as  soon  as  finances  permit,  to  erect  a 
Government  House  spacious  enough  to  accommodate  all  the 

Departments  of  State,  the  business  of  which 
Affrnment     *s  now  carr^e(i  on  m  separate  buildings,  the 

Foreign  Office  being  located  in  a  handsome 
house  in  the  "  Street  of  the  Philhellenes."  The  Ministry 
of  the  Interior,  housed  in  the  Odos  Dragazaniou,  formerly 
included  Agriculture  and  National  Economy ;  but  these 
were,  in  January,  1911,  formed  into  a  separate  Ministry  with 
offices  in  "  Stadium  Street."  The  Portfolio  of  War  is,  in  the 
present  Government,  held  by  the  Prime  Minister.  Each 
department  is  divided  into  several  sections,  the  War  Office 
having  a  very  large  personnel ;  while  the  Admiralty  has  seven 
different  sections,  the  whole  of  the  naval  construction  being 
conducted  from  this  department,  together  with  the  Arsenal, 
lighthouse  and  beacon  regulations,  and  all  such  matters  as, 
with  us,  fall  within  the  province  of  Trinity  House. 

The  working  day  of  Greek  Government  officials  is  not  only 
much  longer  than  is  usual  in  more  western  lands,  but  their 
work  is  also  more  assiduously  performed.  Subordinates  are 
at  their  desks  at   9  a.m.,  and  by  10  a.m.  the  departmental 


Government  21 

heads  of  sections  will  also  have  arrived.      Ministers  and  Secre- 
taries are  to  be  found  in  their  offices  at  an  early  hour,  remaining 
until  noon — the  established  luncheon  hour  in 
Hours  t^le     country — and     returning     at     3    p.m. 

for  another  five  hours  or  even  more  of 
strenuous  work.  At  times  of  exceptional  pressure  the  day's 
work  of  a  government  department  may,  indeed,  not  be  com- 
pleted before  midnight  ;  but  in  such  offices,  as  also  in  the 
Banks,  no  "  overtime  "  pay  is  accorded,  or  even  expected.  For, 
it  may  be  here  remarked,  none  of  the  questions  with  regard 
to  restriction  of  the  hours  of  labour  and  a  "  minimum  wage  " 
have  as  yet,  in  Greece,  disturbed  the  relations  between 
employer  and  employed.  And  whatever  may  have  been  the 
shortcomings  in  the  past  of  Greek  administrators,  it  may  with 
truth  be  said  that  of  all  the  various  politicians  who  have 
from  time  to  time  held  office  not  one  has  ever  been  accused 
of  enriching  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  State.  And  in 
view  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  emoluments  of  Hellenic  Cabinet 
Ministers,  this  is  a  record  of  which  any  nation  might  justly 
be  proud. 

Among  the  leading  politicians  of  the  present  day  may  be 
mentioned,  in  addition  to  M.  Venizelos,  the  well-known  names 

of    MM.    Mavromichalis,    Rallis,    Koromilas, 
Politicians.      Gounaris,  Dragoumis,  Theotokes  and  Zai'mes. 

M.  Kyriakoules  Mavromichalis,  who  held 
the  portfolio  for  war  in  1909-10,  is  the  chief  of  the  famous 
Mainote  clan  of  that  name,  his  ancestors  having  been  hered- 
itary Beys  during  the  Turkish  domination.  A  man  of 
wide  culture  and  charming  manners,  wealthy  and  hospitable, 
he  represents  a  party  of  considerable  political  strength,  not 
so  powerful  as  formerly,  perhaps,  but  still  a  party  to  be 
reckoned  with.  He  is  said  to  be  the  only  rich  Greek  of  ancient 
Hellenic  lineage,  though  his  wealth  is  not  derived  from  his 
ancestral  estates  in  Maina,  but  from  his  mother,  a  Soutzo, 
who  inherited  large  landed  property  in  Roumania.  His 
fine  mansion    at    Athens  contains  an    interesting    collection 


22  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

of  portraits  of  bygone  Mavromichalis,  the  originals  of  which 
figured  prominently  in  the  modern  annals  of  the  country — old 
Petro  Bey,  for  instance,  with  the  brothers  who,  at  Nauplia, 
shot  John  Capo  d'Istria,  first  President  of  the  Greek  Republic, 
and  paid  the  penalty  of  their  crime  on  the  scaffold  ;  portraits, 
too,  of  the  First  Napoleon,  whom  the  Mainotes  claim  to  have 
been  of  their  blood. 

M.  Demetrios  Rallis,  a  member  of  the  Chiote  family  so 
well  known  in  commercial  circles  outside  Greece,  has  repre- 
sented a  constituency  in  Attica  during  more 

M  pe^etnos  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  has  also 
on  one  important  occasion  been  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  of  his  country.  A  statesman  of  con- 
spicuous ability,  distinguished  in  manner  and  courteous  in 
bearing,  a  hard  worker  and  voluminous  writer,  his  many  high 
qualities  are  generally  recognised  and  admitted  by  all  with 
whom  he  comes  into  personal  contact,  not  excepting  his  most 
bitter  political  opponents. 

The  veteran  M.  George  Theotokes,  a  favourite  Minister  of 

the  late  King  of  the  Hellenes,  and  leader  of  the  remnant 

of  the  political   party  created  by  the  late 

tu  Gte°rge       eminent    statesman,    M.    Trikoupis,    belongs 

Theotokes.  ,  ,  '  f  °r 

to  a  good  old  Corfiote  family,  is  a  man  ot 

distinguished  appearance  and  courtly  manners,  and  has 
repeatedly  been  at  the  head  of  the  Government.  The  voters 
of  Corfu  have  always  been  most  loyal  to  their  eminent  com- 
patriot ;  yet  even  his  popularity  was  eclipsed  by  that  of  M. 
Venizelos  who,  when  landing  there  to  visit  his  King  and  the 
Kaiser,  appears  to  have  received  a  more  enthusiastic  reception 
than  had  ever  been  accorded  to  their  local  political  representa- 
tive. M.  Theotokes,  who  has  served  the  State  all  his  life  in 
some  capacity  or  other,  has  passed  through  stormy  times.  He 
was  the  first  Ionian  to  become  Prime  Minister,  and  held  office 
on  three  different  occasions,  once  for  a  period  of  three  years — 
an  unusually  long  life  for  a  Greek  Ministry — and  once  for  a 
fortnight    only ;     and  though  times  have  changed  and  his 


M.    GEORGE   THEOTOKES 
Ex-President  of  the  Greek  Chamber 


Government  23 

countrymen  have  withdrawn  from  him  their  political  support, 
he  will  ever  command  their  respect,  and  their  gratitude 
for  his  past  services  to  the  State. 

M.  Lambros  Koromilas,  the  present  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  is  a  man  of  remarkable  attainments  and  great  ability. 

After  taking  high  degrees   at  the  University 
KoJSS&T     of  Tiibingen  (Wiirtemberg),  and  the  "  Ecole 

Libre  de  Sciences  Politiques  "  of  Paris,  he 
travelled  in  Western  Europe  and  the  United  States  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  their  several  financial  and  economic 
systems.  Entering  the  diplomatic  service,  he  occupied  in 
turn  the  important  posts  of  Consul-General  at  Salonica  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  Washington.  Returning  from 
the  United  States  in  1910  he  was  offered  by  the  King  the 
portfolio  of  Finance  in  the  newly  formed  Venizelos  Cabinet 
which  he  retained  until  the  reconstruction  of  the  Cabinet  in 
1912,  when  he  resumed  his  diplomatic  functions  by  taking 
charge  of  the  Greek  Foreign  Office.  Much  of  the  subsequent 
success  of  M.  Venizelos'  administration  has  been  attributed 
to  the  able  management  of  the  country's  finances  and  economic 
resources  by  M.  Koromilas  between  1910  and  1912. 

M.   Stephanos  Dragoumis,   now  Greek    Governor-General 
of  Macedonia,  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most  distinguished 

among  modern  Hellenes.     Though  a  Macedo- 
M.  Stephanos     nian    b       birth      and    consequently    without 
Dragoumis.       ,,,.,-    a  , 

local    family    influence,    when    contesting    a 

constituency  in  Attica  in  1905  he  was  returned  at  the  head 
of  the  poll  ;  and  while  still  a  simple  Deputy,  and  independently 
of  any  political  party,  he  succeeded  in  bringing  into  effect 
a  scheme  for  granting  lands  to  the  numerous  peasant  families, 
both  natives  of  Greece  and  Greek  refugees  from  different 
parts  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  whom  political  events  had 
deprived  of  their  all  and  rendered  homeless.  An  accomplished 
orator,  the  efforts  of  M.  Dragoumis  in  the  Chamber  were  also 
largely  directed  towards  reconciliation  between  the  then 
troublesome  "  Military  League  "  and  the  Royal  Family,  as 


24  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

well  as  between  the  various  political  parties  ;  he  aimed  also 
at  general  reform,  including  such  revision  of  the  Constitution 
as  has  since  been  effected.  An  able  and  forceful  writer,  M. 
Dragoumis  had  temporarily  retired  from  the  political  arena, 
devoting  himself  assiduously  to  literary  work  until  the 
circumstances  resulting  from  the  outbreak  of  the  Balkan  war 
summoned  him  again  to  public  life. 

M.    Alexander    Zaimes,     the    son    of    a    former    Prime 

Minister,  has  himself  twice  been,  nominally  at  least,  leader  of 

the  Chamber,  and  though  a  nephew  of  the  late 

M.  Alexander    m.  Deliyannis,  was  invariably  an  ally  of  his 

/a  1171  PS  J  J 

great  rival  M.  Theotokes.  Latterly,  how- 
ever, he  has  supported  the  reforming  efforts  of  M.  Venizelos. 
Coming  as  he  does  of  an  ancient  and  honourable  stock — 
the  name  Zaimes  denotes  that  the  family  held  in  bygone 
days  a  zaim,  or  fief,  during  the  Ottoman  occupation — he  has  a 
considerable  following  in  his  native  town  of  Kalyvryta  ;  for 
even  in  democratic  Greece  a  member  of  an  old-established 
family  is  preferred  to  a  parvenu  ;  and  M.  Zaimes  is  generally 
considered  to  be  a  man  with  a  distinguished  political  career 
before  him.  On  the  retirement  of  Prince  George  from  the 
High  Commissionership  of  Crete,  M.  Zaimes  was  appointed 
by  the  King  to  succeed  his  son,  and,  during  his  term  of  office 
appears  to  have  been  fairly  successful  in  the  extremely 
difficult  position  of  administrator  of  that  turbulent  island. 
A  man  of  ample  means  and  scholarly  tastes,  and  actively 
interested  in  educational  progress,  he  is  at  the  same  time 
of  a  retiring  disposition,  speaks  little  in  public,  refuses  to  be 
interviewed,  and  when  not  actively  serving  his  -country, 
divides  his  time  between  study  and  the  pastime  of  fishing. 
For  political  and  administrative  purposes  Greece  is  divided 
into  Nomoi,  or  prefectures.     Originally  eleven  in  number, 

the  Nomoi  had,  for  party  purposes,  been 
°  101fCQre^!e51ons  gradually     increased     to     twenty-six,     thus 

entailing  great  additional  expense  to  the 
State.     Under     the    present     Government,    however,   they 


Government  25 

have  been  again   reduced,  and  are  now  sixteen   in  number 

of   which    three    are    in    Continental     Greece,    five   in  the 

Peloponnesos,  two  in  Thessaly,  one  in  Epeiros,  three  in  the 

Ionian  Islands,  and  two  in  the  Archipelago,  thus  comprising 

the    additional    territory    acquired    by    Greece    before    the 

late   war.      This  sweeping    reduction    in    the    number    of 

administrative  divisions  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most 

important  of  the  many  recent  reforms. 

At  the  head  of  each  prefecture  is  the  Nomarch,  an  official 

invested  with  no  little  authority,  representing  as  he  does 

every    department    of    State    in    proportion 

„  M  .  , ,     to  its  relations  with  the  Nomos  he  adminis- 

•'  Nomarch. 

trates.  Appointed  by  the  King  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  the  powers 
he  exercises  are  regulated  by  a  special  enactment  dating  from 
the  year  1845  which  is  still  regarded  as  "  a  model  of  what 
a  Law  should  be."  The  duties  of  a  Nomarch  are  consequently 
multifarious.  Not  only  is  he  responsible  for  public  order 
and  security,  for  the  public  health,  for  the  proper  administra- 
tion of  prisons  and  hospitals,  asylums  and  other  philanthropic 
institutions,  but  also  for  the  maintenance  of  public  buildings, 
highways,  bridges,  the  preservation  of  archaeological  treasures 
discovered  in  his  district,  the  administration  of  ecclesiastical 
property,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  Education  Act.  The 
improvement  of  Agriculture,  the  drainage  of  the  marshlands 
and  reafforestation  of  the  hills  are  likewise  among  the  duties 
of  a  Nomarch,  as  are  also  the  regulation  of  the  annual  levy 
of  youths  for  military  service,  the  collection  of  rates  and  taxes, 
and  the  superintendence  of  the  administration  of  public 
funds  in  the  various  municipal  districts  comprised  within  his 
prefecture.  The  salary  of  such  an  official  hardly  exceeds, 
however,  including  allowances,  the  modest  sum  of  £300  per 
annum. 

The  Demes,  or  municipal  districts  into  which  a  Nomos 
is  divided,  are  arranged  in  three  classes  according  to  their 
respective  populations,   a   Dems   consisting  of  one  town,  or 


26  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

large  village,  or,  in  the  rural  localities,  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  hamlets.  A  municipal  Council  of  the  first  class  will 
consist  of  eighteen  Councillors  and  six  deputies ; 
Municipal  0j  twelve  Councillors  and  four  deputies  in  the 
second  class ;  and  in  the  third,  of  eight 
Councillors  and  two  deputies.  Elections  are  held  every 
four  years,  as  for  the  Chamber,  in  the  month  of  September, 
and,  under  the  old  system  of  political  patronage,  were 
invariably  fought  on  party  lines.  Each  candidate  for  office 
is  required  on  nomination  to  deposit  25  drachmc8=£l,  with 
the  returning  officer  as  his  contribution  to  election  expenses. 
The  polling  stations,  which  are  usually  churches  or  school- 
rooms, are  open  from  dawn  to  sunset,  this  time  being  extended, 
if  the  candidates  are  numerous,  for  an  hour  or  two  in  the 
evening.  "  One  man  one  vote  "  is  the  rule  at  all  elections 
in  Greece,  every  male  inhabitant  who  has  completed  his 
twenty-first  year  and  performed  his  military  service,  or 
obtained  exemption  therefrom,  possessing  the  suffrage  both 
municipal  or  political,  illiteracy,  which  is  every  year  becoming 
rarer,  being  at  present  no  bar. 

The  method  of  voting  in  use  is  that  instituted  by  the 
British  in  the  Ionian  Islands.     Each  candidate  has  his  own 
ballot-box   surmounted   by   his   photograph, 
BT|?e  and  may,  if  he  pleases,  preside  over  it  per- 

sonally. As  each  elector  advances  to  the 
ballot  boxes,  his  name  is  called  out  by  an  official  and  checked 
on  the  list  of  those  entitled  to  vote.  Two  pellets  of  buck- 
shot are  then  handed  to  him  which  he  drops  into  one  or  other 
of  the  two  compartments  labelled  respectively  "  Yes  "  and 
"  No,"  the  former  being  painted  white  and  the  other  black. 
The  shot  fall  into  canvas  bags  which  are  subsequently  emptied 
into  receptacles  holding  exactly  500  pellets  each,  these  being 
subsequently  counted  by  a  committee  of  six  persons. 

At  the  head  of  each  Deme  is  the  Demarchos,  or  Mayor,  who 
is  elected  by  public  suffrage  at  the  same  time  as  the  Council. 
He  receives  a  small  salary,  and  may,  like  the  Councillors,  be 


Government  27 

represented  on  occasion  by  his  'T-noTrpoeZpos,  or  Vice-demarch, 

but  is  ineligible  for  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  during  his  term  of 

office.     In  the  remoter  islands,  cut  off  by  lack 

„  _.  The.      ,,    of    telegraphic    and    steam    communication 
"  Demarchos.  ,  i       -r-v  , 

from  the  central    government,  the  Demarch 

is  often  a  more  important  official  within  his  jurisdiction  than 
the  Prime  Minister  of  the  day,  and  his  duties  will  probably 
be  as  numerous  and  varied  as  those  of  his  above  described 
superior,  the  Nomarch.  The  Demarch  is,  inter  alia,  Chairman 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  Commission  dealing  with  the  churches 
in  his  Deme  ;  Chairman  also  of  the  local  Educational  Council ; 
he  is  held  responsible  for  public  works,  for  the  proper  manage- 
ment of  the  prisons,  hospitals,  and  other  public  institutions 
in  his  district  ;  and  for  lighting  and  scavenging.  The  pro- 
vision of  hospitality  to  strangers  fall  also  within  his  province  ; 
and  he  may  not,  should  he  desire  re-election,  refuse  to  stand 
sponsor  at  the  font  for  the  child  of  any  supporter  who  may 
ask  this  favour  of  him. 

The  chief  local  rate  levied  by  these  Communal  Councils 
is  a  2  per  cent,  octroi  on  all  articles  introduced  into  the  Deme, 
irrespective  of  whether  such  articles  have  been  produced 
within  the  limits  of  the  Hellenic  Kingdom  or  imported  from 
abroad.  This  duty  works  out  at  a  much  higher  figure  in  urban 
than  in  rural  districts,  where  all,  or  very  nearly  all,  the 
requirements  of  the  peasants  are,  as  a  rule,  produced  and 
manufactured  by  themselves.  District  Councils  are  also 
empowered  to  raise  loans  for  local  needs  with  the  consent  of 
the  Demarch,  and,  in  the  event  of  his  refusing  such  consent, 
the  Councillors  have  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior. 

The  Demarch  of  Athens  may  be  said  to  occupy  a  position 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  as  the 

Deme  under   his   authority   constitutes   not 
of^AtheaT      on^  *ke  capital  of  Greece  but  also  the  focus 

of  Hellenism  and  resort  of  the  whole  cultured 
world.     Athens  is  also  the  only  Greek  municipality  which 


28  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

provides  for  its  leading  citizen  an  equipage  and  an  allowance 
towards  the  expenses  of  public  entertainments.  One  of  the 
most  able  and  popular  Athenian  Lord  Mayors  of  recent 
times  has  been  M.  Spiros  Merkouris  who,  during  his  term  of 
office,  has  succeeded  in  bringing  about  many  important  and 
necessary  municipal  reforms.  Among  these  may  be  named 
the  substitution  of  a  system  of  direct  collection  of  rates  for  the 
old  unsatisfactory  practice  of  tax-farming  ;  the  conversion 
of  the  municipal  debt  ;  the  introduction  of  a  new  system  of 
registration  of  births,  marriages  and  deaths  within  the  Deme  ; 
the  erection  of  a  market-hall  ;  and  the  improvement  of  the 
municipal  roads  and  thoroughfares. 

In  rural  districts  the  Demarch  is  not  infrequently  found 
to  be  a  well-to-do  peasant  farmer  in  blue-tasselled  fez  and 
white  fustanella,  who  adds  to  his  municipal  duties  that  of 
providing  under  his  own  roof,  or  elsewhere,  when  no  decent 
inn  is  available,  accommodation  for  the  passing  traveller  or 
government  official  on  tour.  To  the  former  he  will  also 
courteously  do  the  honours  of  his  Deme,  introducing  him  to 
the  leading  inhabitants,  and  acting  as  his  guide  to  the  places 
of  interest  in  the  neighbourhood,  including  the  local  museum, 
of  which  he  will  probably  be  the  curator. 

Local  self-government,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  no  new 
institution  in  Greece,  though  the  form  of  it  may  have  changed 
somewhat  since  the  creation  of  the  Hellenic  Kingdom.  The 
system  of  Communal  administration  which  the  successive 
conquerors  of  the  country  found  in  operation  was  never 
seriously  interfered  with  by  them,  even  the  Turks  having 
refrained  from  interference  with  the  municipal  liberties  of 
the  subject  nationalities.  A  considerable  amount  of  ad- 
ministrative experience  was,  consequently,  on  the  creation 
of  the  Hellenic  Kingdom,  at  the  service  of  the  new 
Constitutional  Government. 


M.    SPIROS   MERKOURIS 
Mayor  of  Athens 


CHAPTER   III 

ARMY,    NAVY   AND   POLICE 

Although  a  regular  army  was  organised  on  a  small  scale 
on  the  creation  of  the  Greek  Kingdom  under  Otho  I  in  1833, 
Greece  was  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy  in  peace 
Army  for  a  perjoci  0f  sixty  years  the  liberty  she 

had  so  dearly  purchased ;  and  it  was  not 
until  1897  that  her  forces  were  called  upon  to  show  their 
mettle  in  the  field.  The  Turco-Greek  war  of  that  year  making 
apparent  such  glaring  defects  in  every  department  of  the 
army,  its  reform  thenceforward  became  the  unanimous 
demand  of  every  political  party.  Not  immediately,  however, 
were  these  reforms  seriously  undertaken.  Greece  has  not 
lacked  a  party  corresponding  to  our  own  "  Little  Englanders  " 
which,  holding  the  three  "  Protecting  Powers  "  responsible 
for  its  security  against  external  aggression,  has  ever  opposed 
the  creation  of  an  expensive  standing  army.  One  Ministry 
after  another  was  formed  and  dissolved,  many  measures  were 
proposed,  but  nothing  definite  was  accomplished  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  the  reins  of  government  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  M.  Venizelos  that  actual  results  were  finally  achieved. 
The  energy  and  far-sightedness  of  this  able  statesman,  however, 
very  speedily  triumphed  over  apparently  insuperable 
difficulties  ;  and  abundantly  justified  by  late  events  has  been 
the  confident  anticipation  expressed  by  the  President  of  the 
Chamber  that  "  Whenever  the  Greek  Army  is  called  upon  to 
take  the  field,  it  will  be  under  such  favourable  auspices  as 
must  bring  additional  glory  to  our  national  banner."  Nor 
was  the  cost  of  this  new  military  force  allowed  unduly  to  bur- 
den the  country.  The  strong  financial  position  in  which 
Greece  had  been  placed  by  the  administrative  reforms  of 
M.   Koromilas  already  alluded  to  enabled  the  Government 

29 


30  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

to  devote  to  it  the  sum  of  no  less  than  £1,900,000 ; 
patriotic  Greeks  residing  abroad  have  also  contributed 
handsomely ;  and  the  war  fund  has  been  further  augmented 
from  various  other  sources. 

This  reorganisation  of  the  Greek  Army  has  been  carried 

out  under  the  direction  of  the  "  French  Military  Mission 

to  Greece  "  at  the  head  of  which  is  General 

The  French  Eydoux.  The  scheme  of  reform  put  forward 
MissioiT  ky  this  distinguished  officer  was  embodied 
in  a  government  measure  passed  in  1912, 
and  immediately  acted  upon,  the  conscription  law  already 
in  force  greatly  facilitating  the  augmentation  of  the  rank 
and  file.  For,  with  certain  exceptions,  every  male  Hellene 
between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  twenty-five,  whatever 
his  social  position,  is  liable  to  conscription,  and  may  at  any 
time  until  he  has  attained  his  fifty-first  year  be  called  upon 
to  defend  his  fatherland.  Those  entitled  to  claim  exemp- 
tion fall  into  three  classes.  The  first  includes  the  clergy  of 
the  Orthodox  Church  and  of  every  other  recognised  Christian 
Creed,  together  with  students  of  the  Rizareion  and  of  the 
Theological  faculty  of  the  University ;  Rabbis  and  other 
Hebrew  functionaries  of  the  Synagogues,  and  the  Mohammedan 
clergy  attached  to  the  Mosques.  The  second  class  is  com- 
posed of  men  who  are  the  main,  or  sole,  support  of  their 
near  relations,  as,  for  instance,  an  only  son,  or  the  eldest 
of  a  family  of  orphans  ;  an  eldest  son  whose  widowed  mother 
has  married  again  and  has  a  second  family ;  the  only 
or  eldest  son  of  a  widow  ;  and  the  only  or  eldest  grandson  of 
a  widow  without  surviving  son  or  son-in-law.  And,  if  an 
eldest  son  be  physically  unfit  to  earn  his  own  living  and  provide 
for  those  dependent  on  him  his  second  brother  may  claim 
exemption  in  his  stead,  though  all  who  come  under  this 
category  are  required  to  pay  a  fine  of  from  50  to  155  drachma 
{£2  to  £6)  in  lieu  of  service.  The  physically  infirm  are  also 
of  course  exempt,  and  a  man  who  has  been  convicted  of  a 
criminal  offence  is  considered  morally  unfit  to  serve  in  the 


Army,  Navy  and  Police  31 

national  army.  After  deducting  all  the  above  mentioned 
exempts  there  still  remain  some  23,000  young  men  annually 
available,  though  only  a  certain  proportion  of  this  number 
are  usually  called  upon  to  serve  with  the  colours.  This 
question  is  settled  by  lot,  those  drawing  low  numbers  entering 

the  regular  army,  while  those  to  whom  high 
National  numbers  fall  are  passed  into  the  territorial 
Service^         army  and  pay  an  exemption  fine  of  about 

£6,  part  of  which  is  refunded  should  they  be 
subsequently  called  upon  for  active  service.  Under  the  new 
regulations  from  12,000  to  13,000  recruits  are  annually  called 
up,  and  after  a  year's  training  are  drafted  either  into  the 
regular  army  or  into  the  gendarmerie.  The  term  of  service 
with  the  colours  is  two  years,  with  ten  in  the  Ephedreia,  or 
Reserve,  while  the  Ethnophroura,  or  National  Guard,  who  are 
mobilised  only  in  time  of  war,  serve  eight  years,  with  ten  in 
the  Reserve. 

The  height  standard  for  the  Greek  Army  is  nominally  5  feet 
1  inch,  the  average  Hellene  being  by  no  means  a  tall  man. 
Nor  is  this  low  standard  rigidly  adhered  to,  for  a  recruit 
is  not  rejected  on  the  score  of  height,  if  certified  as  physically 
fit  in  other  respects.  Some  of  the  finest  and  hardiest  soldiers 
are  recruited  among  the  Albanians  and  the  pastoral  Koutso- 
Vlachs  of  Thessaly,  who  form  an  important  contingent  ;  and 
the  healthiest  conscripts  are  found,  it  is  said,  in  Arcadia,  those 
from  the  islands,  strange  to  say,  being  the  least  physically  fit 
of  any.  The  tallest  men  in  the  army  are  to  be  found  among 
the  Evzonoi — Frontier  Guards,  or  Rifles,  a  picked  corps 
recruited  chiefly  from  the  mountainous  districts  of  Northern 
Greece.  Soldiering  as  a  profession  does  not  seem  to  appeal 
to  the  Hellene  generally,  and  few  of  the  rank  and  file  remain 
in  the  army  after  the  completion  of  their  two  years'  service, 
preferring  to  return  to  their  patris  and  resume  their  inter- 
rupted agricultural  or  commercial  avocations  ;  and  even 
of  those  who  volunteer  to  remain  with  the  colours,  few  stay 
long  enough  to  become  old  soldiers.     On  the  other  hand,  no 


32  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Greek  liable  to  military  service  is  ever  found  attempting  to 
shirk    this    first    duty    of    a    citizen.       Patriotism    being  a 

cardinal  virtue  with  the  Hellenes,  not  only 
Patriotism.      do  residents  in  the  Kingdom  willingly  present 

themselves  at  the  appointed  time  and  place 
in  every  prefecture,  but  scions  of  the  "  Outside  Greeks  " 
domiciled  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  and  in  European  countries 
come  in  numbers  to  acquire  the  privilege  of  Greek  citizenship  ; 
while  the  many  sons  of  Hellas  who  have  gone  as  boys  to  seek 
fortune  in  the  far  West  on  attaining  to  man's  estate  invariably 
return  home  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  nominal  daily  pay  of  a  Greek  private  is  46  lepid,  or 
about  4M.,  from  which  is  deducted  thirty  leptd  for  his  food 

and   one   leptd   for   the   military   chest,   the 

Soldiers'        Government's    contribution    to    the    rations 
Pay. 

of  each  man  being  22  leptd  for  bread,  10  leptd 

for  his  other  provisions,  and  25  for  washing.     The  uniforms 

now  supplied  by  the  Greek  War  Office  to  the  rank  and  file 

generally  are  made  of  a  rather  heavy  and  serviceable  khaki 

of  foreign  manufacture,  one  new  outfit,  which  has  to  serve  for 

all  occasions,  being  allowed  every  year.    Greek  soldiers  do  not, 

therefore,   as    a    body,    present  a  very    smart    appearance, 

though  they  at  the  same    time   form  a  great   contrast  to 

the  tatterdemalion  defenders  of  Hellas  of  some  forty  years 

ago.      The  Greek  soldier  generally  dislikes  carrying  his  kit 

in  a  knapsack,  preferring  to  bestow  both  it  and  his  ammunition 

distributed  about  his  person,  and  this  also  naturally  detracts 

from  the  smartness  of  his  appearance  when  in  marching  order. 

The  quality  of  the  food  is  said  to  be  quite  as  good  as  that 

supplied  to  the  French  or  German  soldier,  and  much  better 

than    that    which  an   Italian   coscritio   thrives  upon.      The 

meals  consist  of  coffee  and  bread  for  breakfast,   meat  or 

soup  with  vegetables  for  dinner,  and  bread  and  cheese  for 

supper,  special  food  being  provided  for  fast  days.     To  the 

generally  abstemious  Greek  this  fare  is  all  that  could  be 

desired,  being  perhaps  better  than  he  has  hitherto  enjoyed 


Army,  Navy  and  Police  33 

at  home,  while  his  "  better  class  "  comrade,  having  more 
pocket  money,  is  easily  able  to  supplement  it  at  cookshop  or 
restaurant. 

The  Evzonoi,  who  receive  a  slightly  higher  pay,  and  still 
wear  the  Epirote  costume  which  formerly  constituted  the 
national  dress,  form  an  infantry  regiment 
£  The  .  of  picturesque  appearance,  the  members  of 
which  are  for  the  most  part  riflemen  of 
great  skill  and  high  character  specially  chosen  by  the  Military 
Council  from  among  the  mountaineers  accustomed  to  wear 
the  fustanella.  This  corps  enjoys  not  only  a  high  reputation 
for  valour  in  the  field,  but  great  prestige  generally,  and  also 
the  privilege  of  supplying  the  guard  for  the  Royal  Palaces 
at  Athens.  When  in  full  dress  this  Royal  Guard  presents  a 
very  striking  appearance.  A  rustling  pleated  fustanella  or 
kilt,  over  twenty  yards  in  amplitude  and  of  snowy  whiteness, 
is  girt  round  the  Evzondki's  slender  waist,  meeting  at  the 
knees  his  hose  of  white  woollen  gartered  with  black.  His  vest 
and  zouave  jacket  with  its  wing-like  hanging  sleeves  showing 
the  wide,  loose  sleeves  of  a  fine  linen  shirt,  are  elaborately 
embroidered,  while  round  his  waist  is  strapped  an  arms- 
belt  of  leather,  wonderfully  decorated,  and  bristling  with 
pistols  and  other  small  arms.  His  feet  are  shod  with  Albanian 
red  leather  shoes  the  upturned,  pointed  toes  of  which  are  finished 
with  woollen  tufts ;  and  his  costume  is  completed  by  a  jaunty 
close-fitting  cap  with  long  pendant  tassel  of  dark  blue  silk. 
In  winter  a  capa,  or  overcoat,  of  blue  cloth,  cut  with  a  wide 
skirt  to  accommodate  the  fustanella,  protects  all  this  mag- 
nificence from  the  elements.  It  is  said  that  the  Kaiser, 
when  visiting  Athens  some  years  ago,  was  so  impressed 
by  the  appearance  of  this  regiment  that  he  advised  the  late 
King  of  the  Hellenes  to  convert  all  his  troops  into  Evzonoi. 

All  Greek  soldiers  are  required  to  be  able  to  read  and 
write,  and  if  a  conscript  on  joining  has  not  already  acquired 
those  rudiments  of  education,  he  is  put  to  school.  Not- 
withstanding the  educational  efforts  of  the  Government,  as 

3— (2385) 


34  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

many  as  30  per  cent,  proved  fifteen  years  or  so  ago  to  be  com- 
pletely illiterate,  while  not  more  than  25  per  cent,  had  advanced 
beyond  the  "  three  R's."     This  may  be  partly 

Army  accounted    for    by     the    fact      that     these 

education. 

conscripts  include  both   Albanians  from  the 

settlements  in  Attica  and  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom    and 

pastoral  Koutso-Vlachs,  all  of  whom  habitually  speak  their 

own  dialects,  and  learn  Greek  only  as  a  foreign  tongue.     At 

the  present  day,  however,  owing  to  the  greater  extension  of 

compulsory    elementary    education,    nearly    all    the    Greeks 

who  have  passed  through  the  army  can  at  least  read  and  write 

with  facility.     And  as  the  katharevousa  or  "  pure  "  form  of 

Greek  is  alone  taught  in  the  army  schools,  and  used  in  all 

military  orders  and  regulations,  the  national  military  service 

provides  an  additional  means  of  propagating  this  academic 

form  of  Modern  Greek. 

Considerable  improvement  has  been  made  of  late  years  in 

the  accommodation  provided  for  the  troops,  new  barracks 

being   constructed   on    French   models,    and 

Barracks  and    mucri   greater   attention   paid   to   sanitation 
Hospitals.  °  \ 

than  formerly.     The  most  important  military 

centres  have  hitherto  been  the  Capital,  in  the  vicinity  of  which 

two  large  new  barracks  have  recently  been  erected,  and  the 

provincial  towns  of  Mesolonghi,  Nauplia,  Livadia  and  Larissa. 

Salonica  will  also  no  doubt  now  become  a  military  station  of 

the  first  importance.     Military  hospitals,  the  most  important 

of  which  are  those  of  Athens,  Corfu  and  Mesolonghi,  are  also 

being  brought  up  to  date.     Previous  to  the  war  of  1897,  no 

woman  had  ever  acted  as  military  nurse  in   Greece.     The 

principal  hospital  at  the  capital  has,  however,  now  on  its  staff 

several  English  trained  nurses,  their  appointment  being  chiefly 

due  to  the  action  of  Queen  Sophia  who  takes  a  personal  interest 

in  all  that  appertains  to  hospital  work.     The  patients,  it  is 

said,  greatly  appreciate  this  innovation,  though  their  nurses 

have  some  little  difficulty  in  inducing  them  to  fall  in  with 

hospital    routine    as    understood    in    this    country.     Young 


ONE   OF   THE    ROYAL   BODYGUARD 


Army,  Navy  and  Police  35 

soldiers  from  the  villages  and  mountains  object,  for  instance, 
to  undressing  and  being  put  to  bed,  preferring  to  wrap 
themselves  up  in  their  capas  and  lie  down  in  a  corner. 

The  position  of  an  officer  in  the  Greek  army  is,  owing  to 
the  democratic  principle  prevalent  in  the  country  and  the 

absence    of    class     distinctions,      somewhat 
Officers.         peculiar.     For  not  only  is  a  senior  officer  not 

regarded  by  the  rank  and  file  as  their  social 
superior,  but  he  will  also  be  judged  entirely  on  his  own  merits 
as  a  soldier  by  his  subordinates  generally,  and  his  juniors 
may  not  improbably  criticise  and  question,  instead  of  promptly 
carrying  out,  any  order  he  may  issue.  The  maintenance  of 
discipline  is,  consequently,  no  easy  matter.  Officers  in  the 
Greek  army  are  also  very  poorly  paid.  Brigadier-Generals 
and  Colonels  receive  only  560  drachma — £22  8s.  per  month  ; 
a  lieutenant-colonel's  pay  is  480  dr.  ;  a  major's  440  dr.  ; 
a  captain's  from  240  to  300  dr.  according  to  seniority  ;  that 
of  a  lieutenant  180  dr.,  and  of  a  sub-lieutenant  160  dr.  The 
age  limit  for  retirement  is,  however,  compared  with  that  of  our 
own  country,  unduly  extended,  as  a  colonel  need  not  retire 
before  he  has  reached  his  sixty-eighth  year,  while  the  rank  of 
captain  in  active  service  may  be  held  by  a  man  of  the  ripe 
age  of  fifty-six.  Officers  of  all  grades,  as  well  as  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  Greek  army,  now  wear  khaki  on  all  ordinary  occa- 
sions, distinctions  of  rank  and  arms  being  indicated  only  by 
badges  and  braiding,  the  brilliant  uniforms  formerly  so  much 
in  evidence  being  now  reserved  for  grand  parades  and  special 
functions. 

Among  military  colleges,  of  which  there  are  several,  the 
most  important  is  that  termed  the  Evelpidon — the  Woolwich 

of  Greece — in  which  from  fifty  to  sixty  cadets 
Colleges         undergo  a  five  years'  training  for  the  army. 

Candidates  for  admission  must  have  passed 
through  a  "  Gymnasium,"  be  able  to  produce  a  certificate 
of  good  conduct  and  application,  and  to  undergo  a  not  very 
severe  entrance  examination.     The  staff  consists  of  about 


36  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

fourteen  instructors  ;  the  course  of  study  lasts  five  years, 
and  embraces  a  wide  range  of  military  and  other  subjects, 
including  at  least  two  foreign  languages.  On  passing  the 
final  examination  imposed  by  this  college  a  cadet  may  enter 
any  branch  of  the  army  with  the  rank  of  sub-lieutenant. 
Promising  young  graduates  of  these  military  colleges  are  also 
occasionally  sent  by  the  government  to  study  at  St.  Cyr, 
Woolwich,  and  other  famous  centres  of  military  education 
in  Western  Europe. 

Great  attention  is  now  given,  in  the  Evelpidon  Military 
College,  to  foreign  languages,  and  especially  to  French  and 
English,  with  the  result  that  from  70  to  80  per  cent,  of  the 
cadets,  on  leaving,  both  speak  and  write  these  languages 
with  a  facility  that  places  them  at  once  on  a  footing  of  equality 
with  their  fellow-students  abroad. 

Aviation  has  also  of  late  been  occupying  the  attention  of 

the  Greek  military  authorities.     A  few  young  officers  were  at 

first  sent  a  couple  of  years  ago,  at  the  sug- 

Mihtary        gestion  of  General   Eydoux,   to  the  French 
Aviation.         °  J 

school   of   this   science,    this    number   being 

subsequently  augmented  by  a  group  representing  various 
ranks  commissioned  and  non-commissioned.  Greece  now 
possesses  her  little  fleet  of  army  aeroplanes,  which  is  continu- 
ally being  added  to,  considerable  funds  having  been  placed 
for  this  purpose  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  by  wealthy 
and  patriotic  Hellenes. 

A  college  for  officers  of  the  Reserve  who  have  passed  through 
the  University  of  Athens  was  founded  some  time  ago  in  the 
Island  of  Corfu.  The  course  followed  here  is  naturally 
restricted  to  military  subjects,  and  lasts  only  twelve  months. 
After  passing  a  by  no  means  very  "  stiff  "  examination,  a 
student  enters  either  the  infantry  or  artillery  with  the  rank 
of  sub-lieutenant,  and  after  a  year's  service  in  either  of  those 
arms  is  passed  into  the  Reserve.  Facilities  are  also  provided 
in  another  college  for  the  higher  military  education  of  men 
who  have  served  their  time  in  the  ranks  and  desire  to  embrace 


Army,  Navy  and  Police  37 

the  career  of  arms.  To  qualify  for  a  commission  in  either 
the  infantry  or  cavalry  a  three  years'  course  in  this  establish- 
ment is  held  sufficient  ;  but  before  obtaining  such  a  com- 
mission in  either  the  engineers  or  the  artillery  a  further  two 
3^ears'  course  of  special  study  must  be  undertaken. 

The  Hellenes,  and  especially  those  of  the  Isles  and  Coast- 
lands,  being  mariners  born,  Greece  has  never  since  its 
establishment  as  a  Kingdom  lacked  the 
ThM  Greek  nucleus  at  least  of  a  Navy.  At  the  beginning 
of  last  century  no  fewer  than  290  merchant 
and  coasting  vessels  of  various  tonnage  were  found  available 
for  service  in  the  War  of  Independence,  to  the  success  of  which 
they  largely  contributed,  their  valiant  and  patriotic  crews 
fighting  with  no  less  heroism  than  success  against  the  united 
navies  of  Turkey  and  Egypt.  Greece  had,  however,  been 
for  over  two  score  years  an  independent  kingdom  before  any 
attempt  was  made  to  provide  her  with  a  Navy  on  the  model 
of  those  of  Western  Europe.  Finally,  in  1866,  a  number 
of  eminent  Greeks  and  others,  among  whom  were  several 
Philhellenes  of  British  nationality,  having  formed  themselves 
into  a  committee  styled  the  "  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  a 
National  Fleet  "  were  speedily  receiving  handsome  contribu- 
tions from  Hellenes  throughout  the  world  with  the 
result  that  the  treasury  was  ultimately  enabled  to  purchase  the 
corvette  Admiral Miaoulis,  now  converted  into  a  depot  ship. 

Twelve  years  later  (1900)   a  separate  "  Treasury  of  the 

National  Fleet  "  was  created  at  the  Admiralty,  to  which  were 

appropriated    the    revenues    derivable    from 

Treasury         various   sources,   among  the  chief  of  which 

were    harbour   dues,    amounting  to  £20,000 

yearly,    and    the    proceeds    of    collections     made    by    the 

committee,    the    latter    including    even    the    pence    eagerly 

subscribed  by  children  in  the  National  Schools.     The  society 

now   possesses     property     of     the     approximate    value     of 

£320,000.     About   ten   years   ago,   a  second   State    Lottery 


9  2 


38  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

was  also  instituted  with  the  same  object,  1,000,000  tickets 
at  3  drachma  (2s.  6d.)  being  annually  issued,  with  2,000 
winning  numbers,  and  a  first  prize  of  the  value  of  100,000 
drachma,  or  £4,000. 

Greece  now  possesses  a  Navy  composed  of  four  armoured 
battleships,  eight  destroyers,  five  torpedo-boats,  eighteen 
corvettes,  and  three  gun-boats,  the  vessels  now  building, 
which  are  to  be  added  to  her  naval  forces  either  this  year  or 
in  1915,  comprising  one  battleship  cruiser,  six  torpedo  boats, 
two  submarines,  and  as  many  destroyers.  Greece's  single 
armoured  battleship,  the  George  Averoff,  completed  in  1910, 
is  named  after  the  patriotic  Hellene  whose  munificence 
contributed  towards  its  construction.  In  1912  the  number 
of  naval  officers  in  commission  was  about  ninety,  and  of  petty 
officers  and  men  some  1,500,  but  these  numbers  would 
necessarily  have  been  increased  during  the  late  naval  opera- 
tions against  Turkey.     A  new  era  in  Greek 

xt      i   *V-h  ■        naval  organisation  may  indeed  be  said  to  have 
Naval    Mission.  &  J  . 

been  inaugurated  since  the  arrival  of  Admiral 
Tufnell  with  the  staff  of  the  British  Mission,  whose  knowledge 
and  experience  have  been  during  the  last  two  years  at  the 
service  of  the  Greek  government,  important  reforms  having 
already  been  accomplished  in  various  departments. 

As  already  observed,  Greece  possesses  splendid  material  for 
the  formation  of  an  efficient  navy  in  her  maritime  population, 
and  the  great  majority  of  those  who  man  his  Hellenic  Majesty's 
ships  have  lately  given  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  their 
encounters  with  the  ships  of  the  Sultan.  Already  more  or 
less  accustomed  to  a  seafaring  life,  the  naval  recruits,  after 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  the  Arsenal  at  Salamis,  are 
sent  to  the  Naval  School  at  Poros,  where  from  500  to  600  are 
usually   in   training.     Here   the   more   illiterate   receive   an 

elementary  education,  and  become  in  course 
R  ava;  of  time  ordinary  seamen  ;    while  the  better 

educated  are  trained  to  fill  more  responsible 
positions.     After  three  months  passed  in  this  school  the  boys 


Army,  Navy  and  Police  39 

are  returned  to  the  Arsenal,  whence  they  are  transferred  to  a 
division  of  the  fleet  about  to  execute  manoeuvres,  and  subse- 
quently dra  fted  to  the  ships  on  which  they  are  to  serve.  Naval 
cadets,  who  must  be  under  sixteen  years  of  age  on  entering, 
have  hitherto  been  educated,  forty  at  a  time,  on  board  an 
ancient  vessel,  the  Hellas,  moored  in  the  harbour  at  Pirseus, 
learning  practical  seamanship  in  the  course  of  periodical 
cruises  in  the  corvette  Admiral  Miaoulis. 

The  pay  of  a  Greek  naval  officer  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
on  a  more  munificent  scale  than  that  of  his  military  confreres, 
a  vice-admiral's  emoluments  amounting  to  less  than  £600  per 
annum,  and  a  commodore's  to  £446  ;  while  a  post-captain 
receives  but  a  meagre  monthly  pay  of  634  dr.,  a  commander 
452  dr.,  a  lieutenant  312  dr.,  a  sub-lieutenant  220  dr.,  and  a 
"middy"  110  dr. 

While  the  Greek  Army  and  Navy  have  been  respectively 
reorganised  by  a  French  and  a  British  Mission,  the  creation 

of  a  new  force  of  Gendarmerie  has  been 
GendL-nSrie.     entrusted   to   an    Italian    Mission    composed 

of  four  officers,  two  of  whom  had  previously 
organised  the  Gendarmerie  of  Crete.  Until  quite  recently, 
no  adequate  police  force  has  existed  in  Greece,  and  policemen 
proper  were  only  to  be  met  with  in  the  capital,  where  they 
numbered  only  some  400,  and  in  the  more  important 
provincial  towns,  this  small  force  being  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  The  policing  of  the  rural 
districts  devolved  consequently  upon  the  soldiery,  infantry- 
men being  required  to  pass  a  year  in  this  force.  The  regular 
police  also  were  recruited  among  ex-soldiers,  and  being  poorly 
paid,  the  best  men  were  by  no  means  attracted  to  this  service. 
The  average  Greek  policeman,  though  as  courteous  and 
obliging  as  our  own,  cannot  compare  with  him  in  physique, 
bein^  usually  of  very  mediocre  stature,  though  no  doubt 
strong  and  wiry,  and  capable  of  considerable  endurance. 
The  reforms  which  are  being  carried  out  by  the  officers  of 


40  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

the  Italian  mission  have,  however,  already  placed  the  policing 
of  the  rural  districts  on  a  more  satisfactory  and  efficient 
footing  ;  and  service  in  the  gendarmerie  will  no  doubt  become 
as  popular  in  Greece  as  it  already  is  in  the  other  countries  of 
South-eastern  Europe  and  Hither  Asia,  in  which  a  similar 
force  has  of  late  years  been  instituted. 


A   CRETAN    GENDARME 


CHAPTER   IV 

JUSTICE 

Greece  being  a  kingdom  of  modern  creation,  and  conse- 
quently unhampered  by  any  existing  legal  code,  those 
responsible  for  the  framing  of  her  Constitution  were  in  a 
position  to  adopt  or  adapt  from  the  judicial  systems  of  other 
nations  what  seemed  best  suited  to  the  special  needs  of  the 
country.  The  Greek  Civil  Code,  which  contains  1 , 1 00  different 
articles,  is  in  consequence  based  to  a  great  extent  on  the 
Code  Napoleon,  as  also  on  ancient  Roman  and  modern  German 
law  ;  while  the  Criminal  Code  is  remarkably  complete  and 
excellent  in  method,  affording  ample  provision  for  the 
protection  of  accused  persons,  and  at  the  same  time  humane 
in  its  penalties. 

The  Courts  of  Law  comprise  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal, 

with  five  local  Courts  of  Appeal  sitting  respectively  at  Athens, 

Corfu,    Larissa,    Patras    and    Nauplia,    and 

Courts  of        thirteen    Courts    of    First    Instance,    one    at 
Law. 

Athens,  and  the  remaining  twelve  in  as  many 
of  the  principal  towns.  Below  these  tribunals  are  the 
Eirenodikeia,  corresponding  to  our  "  County  Courts,"  with 
other  tribunals  answering  to  our  Police  Courts. 

The  staff  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice — which  is  still 
designated  by  the  ancient  name  of  Areopagus — consists  of  a 
President,  Vice-President  and  sixteen  other  judges,  together 
with  the  Eisangeleus,  or  King's  Proctor  and  his  Deputy, 
the  Registrar,  and  fifteen  Advocates  or  Counsel,  a  quorum 
consisting  of  seven  judges,  the  Registrar,  and  the  Proctor 
or  his  Deputy,  the  duty  of  the  last  named  official  being 
to  sum  up  and  present  the  case  impartially  to  the  bench  after 
counsel  have  been  heard  on  either  side. 

The  "  Areopagites,"  as  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  are 

41 


42  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

termed,  are  selected  from  among  the  judges  of  the  five  Courts 

of  Appeal,  and  appointed  by  the  king  after  nomination  by 

the  Minister  of  Justice.     In  addition  to  its 

The  Supreme     functi0ns    as    a    civil    and     criminal    Court 
Court  of  Appeal. 

of     Appeal    the    Areopagus     constitutes     a 

State  Council  whose  duty  it  is  to  decide  whether  new 
measures  passed  by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  are  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Constitution  or  contrary  to  its  provisions. 
The  Court  sits  twice  a  week,  from  the  middle  of  September 
to  the  middle  of  June,  trying  civil  appeals  on  Mondays,  and  on 
Saturdays  criminal  appeals,  over  400  of  the  former  and  some 
300  of  the  latter  being  usually  dealt  with  within  that  period. 
By  no  means  imposing  either  architecturally  or  forensically, 
notwithstanding  its  august  designation,  is  the  modern 
Areopagus.  The  building  is  quite  commonplace,  and  neither 
judges  nor  counsel  wear  gown  or  head-gear  to  denote  their 
profession,  nor  are  the  charges  of  the  former  or  the  pleadings 
of  the  latter  remarkable  for  rhetoric.  The  proceedings  are, 
however,  expeditious,  and  law  reports  are  published,  as  with 
us. 

The  Epheteia,  or  local  Courts  of  Appeal,  have  jurisdiction 

chiefly,  though  not  exclusively,  in  civil  cases,  and  to  each 

of  these  forty-six  judges  are  attached,   five 

Local  Courts  ^eing  necessary  to  a  quorum  in  each.  Each 
Prefecture  has  its  Court  of  First  Instance, 
corresponding  to  our  Assize  Court,  these  having  been  in  the 
past  no  fewer  than  twenty-six  in  number  ;  but  the  adminis- 
trative divisions  having  lately  been  reduced  to  sixteen,  a 
corresponding  reduction  in  the  number  of  local  tribunals  has 
followed.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Epheteia  includes  the  more 
serious  criminal  cases  ;  civil  cases  when  the  amount  in  question 
exceeds  £20  ;  and  commercial  cases  respecting  claims  over 
£32,  the  special  commercial  Courts  having  been  abolished 
towards  the  end  of  last  century.  When  criminal  cases  are 
being  tried  in  these  Courts  the  judicial  quorum  is  five,  but 
civil  cases  may  be  tried  by  a  bench  of  three  judges  only. 


Justice  43 

The  County  Courts,  of  which  there  are  as  many  as  350,  are 

presided  over  by  a  single  judge  who  decides,  in  addition  to 

creditors'    claims,   all   civil   cases   concerning 

County  and      sums  under  500  d     .rnQs  as  aiso  commercial 

Police  Courts.  .  ys>      ' 

cases  m  which  sums  under  £32  are  involved. 

The  tribunals  answering  to  our  Police  Courts  are  of  two  classes 
termed  respectively  Plemmelodikeia  and  Ptaismatodikeia, 
and  the  justices  of  the  peace  who  preside  in  them  are  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  particular  Court  of  Appeal  attached 
to  their  special  district. 

Candidates  for  judicial  posts  are  now  required  to  undergo  a 
series  of  somewhat  severe  examinations  before  appointment, 
the  examiners  consisting  of  professors  in  the  legal  Faculty  of 
the  University  and  judges  of  the  High  Court.  This  new 
system  is  said  to  work  very  satisfactorily,  a  notable  difference 
in  capacity  being  observable  between  the  older  and  the 
younger  judges,  who,  though  often  lacking  experience — some 
being  no  more  than  twenty-five  years  of  age  on  appointment — 
at  least  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  laws  they  are  called 
upon  to  administer.  In  common  with  all  government 
functionaries  Greek  judges  are  very  inadequately  remunerated, 

the    President    and    Vice-President    of    the 
ju  ges  Supreme    Court    receiving    respectively    but 

£280  and  £240  per  annum,  and  the  Eisangeleus 
the  former  amount  ;  while  his  deputy,  together  with  the 
occupants  of  the  bench  generally,  enjoys  the  munificent 
salary  of  £212,  the  Clerk's  emoluments  amounting  only  to 
£115.  The  Presidents  of  the  local  Courts  of  Appeal  are 
paid  £240  a  year,  the  other  judges  £195  ;  while  the  Presidents 
of  the  Courts  of  First  Instance  receive  £194  8s.  and 
puisne  judges  £132.  Full  pensions  are  also  granted  only  on 
the  completion  of  thirty-five  years  service  on  the  bench. 
The  inadequacy  of  judicial  salaries  is  deplored  by  the 
majority  of  thinking  Greeks,  and  may  consequently  be  in 
time  remedied.  These  meagre  rewards  of  even  the  most 
successful  legal  career  do  not,  however,  apparently  diminish 


44  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

the  number  of  those  eager  to  enter  the  legal  profession ;  nor, 
happily,  is  a  reputation  for  corruptibility — though  not 
unknown — at  all  common  among  judges  of  any  class.  The 
legal  profession  has,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  an  ever  increasing 
attraction  for  the  university  student,  and  the  supply  of 
barristers  annually  "  called  "  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the 
demand  for  their  services.  As  a  natural  consequence,  while 
about  half  a  score  of  the  most  eminent  may  make  incomes 
of  over  £1,000  a  year,  many  earn  a  bare  livelihood.  But,  as 
in  other  countries,  many  study  law  without  any  intention  of 
practising  as  advocates,  and  merely  as  a  stepping-stone  to 
other  professions. 

The  system  of  trial  by  jury  is  customary  in  Greece  only  in 
criminal  cases,  twelve  being  the  number  of  jurors  impanelled. 
This  system  is  said  to  work  very  satisfactorily, 
Trial  by  ^  being  a  provision  of  the  law  that  no 
ry*  criminal  shall  be  tried  either  in  the  district 

in  which  he  habitually  resides  or  in  that  in  which  his  crime 
was  committed.  The  ends  of  justice  cannot  consequently  be 
frustrated  by  the  jury  being  composed  of  men  who  are  parti- 
sans either  of  the  accused  or  his  victim,  or  even  neighbours  and 
acquaintances  liable  to  be  swayed  in  their  finding  by  a  variety 
of  considerations. 

Prison  administration  constitutes  one  of  the  three  main 

sections  of  the  department  presided  over  by  the  Minister 

of     Justice.     State     prisons     fall     into     two 

Prisons  and      categories — Houses  of  Correction  and  Prisons 

prisoners 

for  Criminals.     Of  the  former  there  are  two 

in  Athens,  the  "  Ephivion  "  for  men,  and  the  "  Syngros  " 

for  women,  with  several  in  the  provinces,  of  which  the  chief 

are    situated    in   the   islands   of  iEgina,   Corfu,   Zante   and 

Kephallenia.     The   seven     principal     criminal     prisons     are 

located  respectively  at  Palamidi,   Pylos,  Rhion,  Amphissa, 

Ithaca,  Trikkala  and  Zante,  and  in  them  are  confined,  on  an 

average,   some   1,500  prisoners.     There  are  also  a  number 

of    penal    establishments    for    persons    convicted    of    minor 


Justice  45 

offences,  in  addition  to  those  found  in  all  the  provincial 
towns  in  which  the  Courts  of  First  Instance,  or  Assize,  are 
held.  Considerable  attention  has  been  directed  of  late  years 
to  prison  reform,  the  arrangements  in  some  of  the  older  places 
of  detention  being  mediaeval  rather  than  modern.  New 
prisons  for  women  and  juvenile  offenders  have  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century  been  provided  at  Athens,  one  of 
these,  for  women  only,  being  erected  in  1901  by  the  efforts 
of  Queen  Olga,  and  another  and  larger  female  prison  with 
part  of  the  2,000,000  of  drachma  bequeathed  for  that  purpose 
by  the  patriotic  and  philanthropic  M.  Syngr6s  ;  while  further 
prisons  on  the  most  improved  models  are  also  in  course  of 
construction. 

A  certain  number  of  the  more  ancient  prisons  are  located 
in  some  of  the  old  fortresses  built  centuries  ago  by  the  Frank 
conquerors  of  the  isles  and  shores  of  Greece,  and  though  no 
doubt  greatly  deficient  in  all  that  appertains  to  well  equipped 
places  of  detention,  present  curious  and  interesting  features. 
Among  these  may  be  noted  the  prison  in  the  Castle  of  Corfu 
and  that  of  Palamidi  at  Nauplia.  The  former  is  a  relic  of  the 
four-century-long  Venetian  occupation  of  that  island,  and  the 
latter  was  also  originally  of  Venetian  construction.  This 
fortress  is  in  the  form  of  a  pentagon  and  includes  seven 
towers,  one  of  which,  known  as  Fort  Michael,  contains  the 
prison.  The  visitor,  after  mounting  what  appear  to  him 
1,000  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  is  led  to  the  rampart  overlooking 
the  prisoners'  recreation  ground  which  resembles  somewhat  the 
interior  of  a  Martello  tower.  The  convicts  occupy  their 
leisure  in  manufacturing  different  objects  for  sale,  heads  for 
walking  sticks,  cigarette  holders,  etc.,  most  skilfully  carved 
in  a  variety  of  designs,  together  with  rosaries,  eikons  and  other 
small  portable  articles  likely  to  tempt  the  visitor.  A  purchase 
is  not,  however,  effected  without  a  good  deal  of  bargaining, 
one  of  the  prisoners  being  allowed  to  ascend  and  act  as  sales- 
man, while  the  prisoners  below  hold  up  little  money  boxes 
fixed  to  long  poles  to  receive  the  price  agreed  upon  or  the 


46  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

gratuities  of  the  charitably  disposed.  The  number  of  prisoners 
incarcerated  here  was  formerly  very  large.  When  visited  by 
Air.  Miller  about  ten  years  ago  they  numbered  612  ;  but  as 
prison  accommodation  has  since  been  so  largely  increased 
only  some  120  are  now  to  be  found  in  this  fortress- jail.  The 
State  allows  35  leptd— about  3d.— per  day  for  the  maintenance 
of  each  prisoner.  In  some  prisons  the  inmates  are  required 
to  perform  a  certain  amount  of  manual  work,  but  in  others 
there  is  no  compulsory  labour  and  the  prisoners  are  allowed 
to  work,  if  so  inclined,  for  their  own  profit. 

The   Greek   penal   code   imposes   capital   punishment   for 

such    crimes    as    deliberate    murder    and    brigandage,    the 

guillotine  being  made  use  of  for  executions. 

The  Death       The  death  penalty  is,  however,  not  frequently 

carried    out,    the    Royal    clemency    usually 

modifying   the   sentence   to    perpetual   imprisonment.     The 

most  frequent  offences  among  men  are  homicide  and  crimes 

of  violence,  due  rather  to  the  excitable  Hellenic  temperament 

than  to  the  use  of  intoxicants,   drunkenness  not  being  a 

prevalent   vice  in   any  of   the   countries    of    South-eastern 

Europe  ;   and  offences  against  property  are,  notwithstanding 

a  hitherto  not  too  efficient  police  force,  singularly  rare.     The 

majority  of  male  criminals  appear  to  be  between  the  ages  of 

twenty  and  thirty,  and  according  to  prison  statistics,  the 

largest    number    of    prisoners   belong   to    the    peasant    and 

shepherd  class— the  least  educated  of  the  whole  community, 

the  prosperous  provinces  of  Achaia  and  Messenia,  together  with 

the  currant-growing   Elis,   contributing   the  largest   number 

of  criminals,  while  the  poorer  and  more  mountainous  districts 

are  for  the  most  part  comparatively  free  from  crime. 

Brigandage,    so    far    as    foreigners    are    concerned,    was 

effectually  stamped  out  by  the  Greek  authorities  after  the 

affair  in  1870   which  had  such  fatal  results 

Brigandage,      for  two   English    travellers.     Isolated  cases, 

of  which  wealthy  Greeks  were  the  victims, 

have,  however,  since  occurred,  one  even  so  recently  as  the 


Justice  47 

beginning  of  this  century ;  but  as  the  captive  escaped  with 
his  life,  the  brigand,  a  certain  Panopoulos,  was  allowed  to 
escape  the  death  penalty,  and  condemned  only  to  perpetual 
imprisonment. 

The  majority  of  women  convicts  are  confined  in  the  two 

above  named  female  penitentiaries  at  Athens.     These  are 

supervised  by  a  committee  composed  of  ladies 

Women         as  we^  as  men  .    ancj  a^  tfie  prison  officials, 

Prisoners.  .  .  r  .   . 

with  the  exception  of  the  Chaplain,  a  clerk, 

and  a  gardener,  are  women,  a  lady  doctor  being  in  charge 
of  the  infirmary.  The  crime  of  which  women  are  most 
commonly  convicted  is  murder,  and  murder  from  motives  of 
jealousy,  the  victim  being  usually  an  unfaithful  husband, 
and  it  appears  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  such  cases 
comes  from  the  province  of  Maina,  whose  inhabitants,  as 
already  remarked,  habitually  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands. 
Of  these  women  the  great  majority  are  illiterate.  In  prison, 
however,  this  defect  is  remedied,  all  those  who  cannot  at 
least  read  and  write  being  required  to  learn.  Every  inmate 
is  also  obliged  to  work  at  some  handicraft,  the  product  of 
her  labour  being  disposed  of  by  the  authorities  and  half  its 
monetary  value  deposited  in  the  prison  bank  to  her  credit. 
From  such  deposits  a  prisoner  is  allowed  to  remit  sums  to 
her  family,  provided  enough  remains  to  pay  her  fare  to  her 
home  on  discharge,  but  no  allowance  is  made  to  her  personally. 
Visits  are  allowed  twice  in  every  week,  when  the  women 
convicts  may  hold  intercourse  with  their  friends  through  a 
grating,  but  no  contributions  of  food  or  wine  are,  under  the 
new  system,  allowed.  The  prisoners  are  said  to  be,  on  the 
whole,  very  well  behaved,  orderly,  and  obedient  to  rules, 
those  who  have  received  life  sentences  appearing  resigned  to 
their  hopeless  fate. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  admirable  legal  system  of 
Greece  above  indicated,  it  is  only  within  late  years  that 
justice  can  be  said  to  have  been  administered  without  reproach 
within  her  borders,  this  regrettable  state  of  affairs  having  been 


48  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

largely  due  to  the  liability  of  judges  to  removal,  if  not  dismissal, 
with  every  change  of  Ministry.  The  new  regime  has  happily 
inaugurated  a  fundamental  change  in  this  respect,  and  it 
may  be  confidently  anticipated  that  the  further  reforms  now 
about  to  be  carried  into  effect  will  eventually  endow  the 
modern  Hellenes  with  the  blessings  of  a  high-minded  and 
incorruptible  magistrature  dealing  out  justice  to  rich  and 
poor  alike  without  respect  of  persons. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   MONARCHY 

The  Greeks,  as  a  nation,  are  essentially  democratic  in  their 
ideas  and  habits,  and  hereditary  rank  is  now  almost  non- 
existent in  the  kingdom,  the  use  of  titles  of 
Monarchy.  nobiIity  being  explicitly  prohibited  by  an 
Article  of  the  Constitution.  The  Monarchy, 
consequently,  differs  from  monarchies  generally,  and  has 
hitherto  been  regarded  merely  as  a  convenient  political 
institution,  calling  for  no  particular  display  of  loyalty,  though 
the  diplomatic  advantages  accruing  to  Greece  from  the 
connection  of  its  dynasty  with  so  many  of  the  Royal  Families 
of  Europe  have  long  been  recognised  by  the  nation.  The 
late  King  some  years  ago  conferred  on  his  heir  apparent  the 
title  of  "Duke  of  Sparta";  but  finding  this  supposed  attempt 
to  introduce  a  foreign  aristocratic  system  into  the  State 
regarded  with  disfavour,  he  judiciously  refrained  from 
creating  Dukedoms  for  his  younger  sons.  The  Crown  Prince's 
new  title  was,  indeed,  never  officially  adopted  either  by  the 
Chamber  or  the  press,  and  he  continued  until  his  accession 
to  the  throne  to  be  styled  simply  "  0  Diodochos  " — the 
"  Successor." 

The   new  political   situation  created  by  the  successes  of 
the  Hellenic  army  under  the  leadership  of  King  Constantine, 

who,   born   and  bred  in   Greece,  is  the  first 
Constantine.     Greek  sovereign  to  profess  the   creed  of   the 

National  Church,  has  excited  in  the  Hellenic 
nation  an  extraordinary  degree  of  loyalty  not  only  for 
their  monarch  individually,  but  also  for  the  dynasty 
generally.  The  question  as  to  whether  the  King  will  at  his 
coronation  next  spring  be  styled  Constantine  I  or  XII  is  being 
eagerly  discussed  in  Athens,  popular  opinion  leaning  to  the 
latter  number  which  would  imply  that  the  new  King  of  the 
Hellenes  is  the  direct  successor  of  the  last  Byzantine  Emperor, 

49 

4— (2385) 


50  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Constantine  XI,  slain  at  the  taking  of  Constantinople  in  1453. 
The  King  of  the  Hellenes  is,  it  is  reported,  likely  to  comply 
with  the  wishes  of  his  people  in  this  respect,  and  already,  in 
imitation  of  the  Emperors  of  Byzantium,  writes  after  his  name 
the  initial  letter  of  Bao-tXeu?. 

Born  at  Athens  on  the  21st  July,  1868,  King  Constantine, 
together  with  his  brothers  the  Princes  Nicholas,  Andrew  and 
Christopher,  received  a  military  education.  Having  devoted 
more  than  the  usual  number  of  years  and  the  average  amount 
of  application  to  military  studies,  he  has  long  been  credited 
with  an  exceptional  knowledge  of  military  matters,  and  while 
Crown  Prince,  held  the  position  of  Honorary  Commandant 
of  the  Infantry  Regiments  and  Inspector-General  of  the 
forces,  the  latter  being  a  post  of  somewhat  recent  creation. 
His  position  as  General  Administrator  of  the  army  was, 
however,  during  the  years  immediately  following  the  disas- 
trous war  with  Turkey  in  1897,  rendered  one  of  extreme 
difficulty  by  the  personal  attacks  made  against  him  both  in 
the  Press  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  major  part  of 
the  blame  for  the  disasters  of  that  campaign  being  unjustly 
directed  towards  him.  The  slanders  then  spread  against  the 
Crown  Prince  having,  however,  been  subsequently  recognised 
as  baseless,  he  speedily  regained  his  former  popularity,  and 
for  some  years  past  has  been  idolised  equally  by  the  people 
and  the  army,  being  invariably  hailed  on  the  occasion  of 
his  every  public  appearance  with  demonstrations  of  the 
utmost  loyalty  and  affection. 

This  change  in  the  popular  attitude  towards  the  Prince  was 
the  more  remarkable,  seeing  that  the  Greeks  are  not  as  a 
nation  addicted  to  displays  of  enthusiasm  with  regard  to  royal 
personages  generally,  whether  native  or  foreign.1     An  alleged 

1  It  is  said  that  the  Kaiser,  during  his  first  visit  to  Athens,  expressed 
surprise  at  the  little  attention  accorded  him  while  driving  through 
the  streets  of  the  capital.  His  fears  that  he  had  in  some  way  offended 
the  Greeks  were,  however,  set  at  rest  on  being  informed  that  it  was 
usual  for  the  Royal  Family  to  pass  among  their  people  almost 
unnoticed. 


HIS   MAJESTY  THE    KING    OF   THE    HELLENES 


The  Monarchy  51 

mediaeval  prophecy  to  the  effect  that  the  City  of  Constanti- 
nople will  be  wrested  from  the  Turks  and  again  become 
Greek  when  a  King  Constantine,  wedded  to  a  Queen  Sophia, 
shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  Hellas  has,  during  the  course  of  the 
recent  war,  had  a  great  vogue  among  the  Greek  populace  ; 
and  this  tradition,  combined  with  the  able  and  successful 
generalship  of  the  Crown  Prince  in  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
tended  greatly  to  increase  the  popular  enthusiasm  for  his 
person  when  suddenly  raised  to  the  throne  by  the  act  of  an 
assassin. 

One  good  result  of  King  Constantine's  position  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief while  heir  apparent  has  been  that  it  was 
part  of  his  official  duty  periodically  to  inspect  the  various 
military  stations  distributed  throughout  the  kingdom,  and 
he  has  thus  visited  and  become  acquainted  with  every  part 
of  the  country,  a  duty  which,  it  may  be  observed,  was  un- 
fortunately almost  entirely  neglected  by  the  late  King  George. 
King  George  was,  however,  considered  by  his  people  to  be 
their  best  ambassador  in  Europe  ;  and  during  his  frequent 
absences  from  his  kingdom  for  reasons  both  of  health  and 
diplomacy  the  heir  apparent  usually  acted  as  Regent,  though 
he  appears  to  have  refrained  as  much  as  possible  from  making 
use  of  the  powers  with  which  he  was  temporarily  invested. 
King  Constantine  has  also  frequently  visited  the  Courts  of 
western  Europe  as  the  guest  of  one  or  other  of  his  royal 
kinsmen  ;  and  he  a  year  or  two  ago  paid  a  series  of  official 
visits  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  and  the  sovereigns  of  the 
neighbouring  Balkan  States,  in  the  course  of  which  his  sym- 
pathetic character  and  great  personal  charm  gained  for  him 
wide  popularity  as  well  in  military  as  in  political  circles. 
Queen  Sophia,  who  was  wedded  to  the  King  of  the  Hellenes 
in  1889,  is  a  sister  of  the  Kaiser,  and  has  been  ever  since 

her  arrival  in  Greece  the  most    popular  and 
Soohfa  kes*    beloved    lady    in    the    Kingdom.     The 

Royal  couple  have  five  children,  the  Crown 
Prince  George,  born  in  1890,  the  Princes  Alexander  and  Paul, 


52  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  the  Princesses  Helen  and  Irene.  Within  two  years 
of  her  marriage  Queen  Sophia  renounced  the  Protestant 
faith  and  formally  declared  herself  a  membei  of  the  Orthodox 
Greek  Church,  a  step  which,  though  it  still  further  endeared 
her  to  the  Hellenic  nation,  caused  an  estrangement  of  some 
years  duration  with  her  Imperial  brother.  The  Queen  is 
a  woman  of  great  ability,  and  the  active  interest  always 
taken  by  her  while  Crown  Princess  in  every  new  scheme 
for  promoting  the  welfare  of  her  adopted  country  led  to 
the  entertainment  of  lively  hopes  of  her  future  usefulness 
when  its  sphere  should  be  enlarged.  Kind,  gracious,  and 
tactful,  she  is  able  to  maintain  an  attitude  of  considerable 
dignity  in  her  intercourse  with  all  classes  of  the  population 
without  at  all  offending  their  democratic  prejudices.  During 
the  disastrous  war  with  Turkey  in  1897,  the  Queen  used 
her  utmost  endeavours  with  the  Kaiser  on  behalf  of  the 
Greeks,  towards  whom  his  attitude,  together  with  that  of 
his  ministers,  had  been,  to  say  the  least,  in  the  last  degree 
unsympathetic.  In  every  movement  organised  for  the 
betterment  of  the  country  generally  she  has  invariably  taken 
a  prominent  part  ;  and  to  her  intelligent  initiative,  or  active 
co-operation,  the  progress  made  in  the  reafforestation  of 
Greece,  the  spread  of  education,  the  improvement  in  hospital 
organisation,  and  the  foundation  of  many  charitable  and 
philanthropic  institutions  are  in  great  measure  due. 

The  widowed  Queen  Olga  has  also,  ever  since  her  arrival  in 
the  country  in  1867  as  the  bride  of  King  George,  invariably 

shown  herself  to  be  a  kind-hearted,  benevolent 
Queen  woman,  ever  ready  and  anxious  to  help  in  the 

relief  of  distress  and  suffering,  qualities  which 
could  not  fail  to  endear  her  to  a  certain  section  at  least  of  the 
people.  Unlike  Queen  Sophia,  however,  she  has  never  been 
able  to  identify  herself  with  her  adopted  country,  having 
always  remained  at  heart  a  Russian.  Nor  has  she,  as  a  rule, 
taken  pains  to  disguise  this  partiality  for  the  land  of  her 
birth,  her  action  on  certain  occasions  having,  unfortunately, 


HER    MAJESTY   QUEEN    SOPHIA 


The  Monarchy  53 

caused  extreme  provocation  to  the  more  Chauvinistic  section 

of  the  Hellenes. 

Of  the  four  brothers  of  the  King,  the  eldest,  Prince  George, 

who  was  born  at  Corfu  in  1869,  and  married  in   1902  the 

Princess  Marie  Buonaparte,  holds  the  honorary 

The  King's      ran|.    0f    Vice- Admiral   in    the    Greek   navy, 
Brothers.  ,  .  ,  ...  .      ,.  . 

together  with  a  similar  position  in  the  navies 

of   Russia   and   Denmark.     After   commanding    in    1897    a 

torpedo  flotilla  operating  in  Cretan  waters,  this  Prince  was 

in  the  following  year  appointed  to  the  Governorship  of  Crete  ; 

but  after  six  stormy  years  in  that  island  he  retired  into  private 

life.     It  is,  however,  hoped  that  in  the  new  conditions  created 

by  the  successful  issue  for  Greece  of  the  late  war,   Prince 

George  may  find  it  possible  again  to  serve  his  country  either 

in  his  former  position  in  Crete  where,  it  is  said,  he  would  be 

warmly  received,  or  in  some  other  capacity. 

Prince  Nicholas,  who  is  three  years  younger,  and  is  acting  at 
present  as  Governor  of  Salonica,  had  previously  held  the 
appointments  of  Inspector  of  Artillery  and  Aide-de-Camp  to 
his  late  father.  His  wife  is  the  Grand  Duchess  Helene 
Vladomirovna  of  Russia,  and  they  have  three  little  daughters 
under  ten  years  of  age.  Prince  Nicholas  is  credited  with 
literary  and  artistic  tastes  and  a  certain  talent  for  dramatic 
writing.  He  is  also  an  enthusiastic  tennis  player,  and  when 
not  occupied  with  more  strenuous  duties,  as  at  present,  is  a 
frequent  figure  in  the  courts  situated  below  the  Temple  of  the 
Olympian  Zeus.  The  Princess  was  a  great  heiress,  and  the 
establishment  of  this  royal  couple  at  Athens  consequently 
displays  a  certain  degree  of  splendour  in  its  appointments, 
the  entertainments  there  given  maintaining  the  traditions  of 
hospitality  for  which  the  Princess's  fatherland  is  justly 
renowned. 

Prince  Andrew,  who  is  now  thirty-one  years  of  age,  is  an 
officer  of  cavalry,  and  also  holds  honorary  rank  in  the 
Guards  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse,  with  whose  family  he 
is  closely  connected  by  his  marriage  with  Princess  Alice,  a 


54  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

great  granddaughter  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  and  daughter 

of  Prince  Louis  of  Battenberg.     This  fourth  son  of  King 

George   I   overtops,   physically,   all  his  brothers  and  most 

of  his  fellow  Hellenes,  as  he  measures  no  less  than  6  feet 

3  inches  in  height.     He  is  also  considered  very  good-looking 

and,  together  with  his  wife,  is  most  deservedly  popular.     The 

Princess   Alike,   as   the   Greeks   call   her,    had   acquired   the 

Neo- Hellenic  tongue  before  her  arrival  in  the  country,  and 

has  ever  since  thoroughly  identified  herself  with  the  nation 

among  whom  she  has  made  her  home,  being  always  ready  to 

give  not  only  her  patronage  but  her  practical  support  to  every 

benevolent  undertaking  brought  to  her  notice  ;   and  there  are 

also  few  social  or  literary  movements  with  which  her  name 

is  not  associated. 

Prince  Christopher,  who  is  a  frequent  and  welcome  visitor 

to  this  country,  also  holds  a  commission  in  the  Greek  army. 

Of  the  two  sisters  of  the  King,  the  elder, 

The  King's      princess  Alexandra,  died  in  1901,  a  few  years 
Sisters.  -' 

after  her  marriage  to  a  Russian  Grand  Duke 

by  whom  she  had  a  son  and    daughter.     She    was    greatly 

beloved  and  sincerely  regretted  by  her  father's  subjects  who 

were  wont  to  describe  her  as  "  a  real  Greek  Princess."     The 

second  sister,  Princess  Marie,  is  the  wife  of  the  Grand  Duke 

George  of  Russia,  and  with  her  two  children  resides  chiefly 

in  that  country. 

The  King's  Civil  List  of  £45,000  is  a  fairly  handsome  one 

considering  the  size  of  the  country,  the  few  expenses  attached 

to  his  position,  and  that  in  addition  to  this 

C"vii luftS  sum  ^e  receives  an  annual  grant  of  £4,000 
from  each  of  the  three  "  Protecting  Powers  " 
— Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany  who  undertook,  in 
accordance  with  the  Treaties  of  1863  and  1864,  to  hand  over 
this  sum  out  of  the  annual  amounts  payable  by  the  Greek 
Treasury  for  advances  made  to  it.  And  as  the  late  King 
was  a  good  man  of  business  and  in  a  position  to  command 
sound  financial  advice,  he  found  himself  able  during  his  reign 


H.K.H.    THE    CROWN    PRINCE    OF    GREECE 


The  Monarchy  55 

of  nearly  half  a  century  considerably  to  increase  his  private 
fortune  by  judicious  speculations  and  investments.  With  the 
exception,  however,  of  the  Crown  Prince,  who  enjoys  an  allow- 
ance of  £8,000  per  annum,  no  separate  provision  is  made  for 
the  rest  of  the  Royal  family,  though  the  question  of  grants 
to  the  Princes  Nicholas  and  Andrew  has  already  been  mooted 
in  the  Chamber.  This  is  a  question  which  may,  however, 
be  expected  to  assume  greater  proportions  with  the  numerical 
increase  of  the  Royal  family  of  Greece,  and  more  especially 
if  the  holding  of  important  Civil  and  Military  posts  by  its 
members  continues  to  be  unfavourably  viewed  by  the  nation. 
The  Royal  Palace  at  Athens  is  well  situated,  overlooking 
the  spacious   "  Constitution   Square,"   which,   with  its  fine 

hotels  and  numerous  cafes,  forms  the  centre 
TPalac°eyaI      of   outdoor   Iife   in   the   capital.     Being   the 

property  of  the  State  whose  representatives 
are  apt  to  keep  the  public  purse-strings  somewhat  tightly 
drawn,  the  Palace  is  not  always  kept  in  such  good  repair 
either  within  or  without  as  might  be  desired  by  its  occupants. 
Built  by  King  Otho  about  1835,  in  true  Bavarian  style,  of 
limestone  and  Pentelicon  marble,  the  Palace  forms  almost  a 
square,  its  walls  pierced  with  a  plethora  of  windows  and  a 
modicum  of  doors  which  give  to  the  facade  an  appearance 
neither  artistic  nor  pleasing.  The  beautiful  gardens  which 
surround  the  edifice  atone,  however,  in  some  measure  for  its 
unattractiveness.  Originally  laid  out  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Queen  Amalia,  the  Consort  of  King  Otho,  to 
whom  the  Capital  owes  not  a  few  of  its  most  pleasing  features, 
the  palace  gardens  now  contain  avenues  of  lofty  trees  affording 
cool  and  shady  walks,  flanked  by  flower  beds,  bosky  groves 
and  shrubberies  gay  with  the  variety  of  flowering  plants 
indigenous  to  the  soil  of  Hellas,  and  are  generously  thrown 
open  to  the  public  at  certain  hours.  A  handsome  mansion 
situated  in  the  Boulevard  d'Herode,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Royal  Palace,  constituted  the  town  residence  of  the  King 
while  Crown  Prince. 


56  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

King  Constantine  purchased  some  years  ago  the  fine  estate 
of  Manolada,  situated  in  the  currant-growing  districts  lying 
between  the  towns  of  Patras  and  Pyrgos,  and  containing 
also  valuable  oak  forests.  The  Royal  Family  also  possess, 
in  addition  to  a  villa  at  Corfu,  the  country  mansion  amid  the 
vineyards  of  Tato'i  in  which  the  late  King  invested  part  of  his 
capital.  The  wines  from  these  vineyards  are  much  esteemed, 
as  are  also  the  butter  and  milk,  etc.,  supplied  by  the  model 
dairies  on  this  royal  demesne. 

The   Households  of  the   King  and   Queen   are  organised 

on  an  extremely  modest  scale,  the  officials  of  the  former 

being  very  few  in  number,  and  the  entourage 

The  R°ya-1       0f    the    Queen    comprising    only    one    Lady 

of  the  Bedchamber,  four  maids  of  Honour, 

and  a  Chamberlain.     And  though  these  ladies  and  gentlemen 

form  a  class  apart  from  the  politicians  and  are  occasionally 

the  recipients  of  polite  attention  from  foreign  sovereigns, 

they  are  accorded  no  special  status  by  the  nation.     With 

their  attendants  generally  of  every  degree  the  Royal  Family 

are  exceedingly  popular,  and  appear  to  possess  the  gift  of 

securing  the  faithful  service  of  those  by  whom  they  are 

surrounded  in  their  daily  home  life. 

The  Court  has  hitherto  entertained  little,  resembling  in 

this  respect  rather  that  of  a  small  German  State  than  of  a 

kingdom  ;     nor   are   any   important   changes 

Court  jn  ^his  respect  at  present  to  be  looked  for. 

Functions.  ,       r  .  .  ,  ~    .  , 

As  a  rule,  only  one  important  Palace  function 

is  held  annually,  this  being  the  State  Ball  on  the  morrow  of 
the  Greek  New  Year,  to  which  about  1,200  guests  are  bidden. 
Comparatively  few  ladies  belonging  to  the  military  and 
political  circles  of  the  capital  avail  themselves,  however,  of 
the  invitation  For  the  crowds  of  men  with  whom  the  great 
ball-room  is  filled  to  repletion  make  dancing  an  impossibility 
for  the  general  company,  and  as  no  other  opportunity  is  likely 
to  occur  during  the  year  for  wearing  a  second  time  the  ex- 
pensive court  dress  obligatory  on  this  occasion,  few  Greek 


The  Monarchy  57 

ladies  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  being  present.  The 
majority  of  those  who  gather  at  one  side  of  the  ball-room 
to  be  presented  to  the  Queen  belong  consequently  either  to 
the  few  wealthy  Greek  families  resident  in  the  Capital, 
the  Diplomatic  Corps,  or  the  small  foreign  colony.  The 
masculine  section  of  the  assemblage  consists  for  the  most 
part  of  uniformed  officers,  naval  and  military,  and 
"  decorated  "  civilians  wearing  ordinary  dress  clothes  ;  and 
the  only  picturesque  feature  throughout  the  function  is  sup- 
plied by  the  detachment  of  Evzonoi,  or  riflemen,  who,  wearing 
their  striking  costume  already  described,  stand  on  such  occa- 
sions in  double  line  at  the  entrance  of  the  Palace.  The 
members  of  the  Greek  royal  family  generally  appear  to  care 
little  for  pomp  and  ceremony,  and  take  after  their  Romanoff 
forebears  in  their  fondness  for  romping  and  such  like  uncon- 
ventionalities.  The  princes  and  princesses  are  fairly  frequent 
guests  at  the  houses  of  wealthy  Athenians  and  foreign  residents, 
and  may  be  met  with  every  day  walking,  riding,  or  driving 
in  the  streets  of  Athens. 

Titles  of  nobility  being,  as  above  remarked,  legally  tabooed 
in   Greece,   there   exists   consequently   between   the   throne 

and    the    nation    generally    no    intermediate 
Aristocrat      aristocratic  class,  the  old  Athenian  families, 

the  members  of  which  were  designated 
by  the  classic  term  of  Archontes,1  and  who  constituted  in 
bygone  times  a  sort  of  hereditary  noblesse,  being  now  almost 
extinct.  Representatives  may,  indeed,  still  be  found  of  a 
few  of  these  old  Athenian  families,  possessing  pedigrees  of 
more  than  respectable  length.  The  family  of  Chalkokondyles 
lays  claim  to  descent  from  the  historian  of  that  name  ;  and  the 
family  of  the  Venizeloi,  who  are  reputed  to  have  been  of 
Venetian  origin,  may  claim  the  honour  of  having  kept  learning 
alive  at  Athens  during  the  Ottoman  domination.  Repre- 
sentatives are  also  to  be  found  in  the  Greek  capital  of  certain 

1  This  term  occurs  frequently  with  its  old  signification  in  popular 
ballads  and  in  the  Festival  Songs  described  on  page  160. 


58  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

old  Phanariot1  Greek  families,  a  certain  number  of  whom, 
being  despoiled  by  the  Turkish  government  of  their  possessions 
at  Constantinople  at  the  time  of  the  War  of  Independence, 
took  refuge  in  Greece.  The  Latin  lords  who  so  long  held 
sway  in  the  Greek  islands,  where  many  of  their  ruined  fortresses 
may  still  be  seen,  were  .termed  Archontes.  Venetian,  Genoese, 
and  Spanish  surnames  are  likewise  fairly  numerous  in  the 
islands — Foscolos,  Vitalis,  and  Crispis,  Leones,  Delendas 
and  Vallis ;  and  disguised  under  its  Greek  form  of 
Dekigallas — the  noble  Spanish  name  of  De  Cigalla.  Illustrious 
Byzantine  names  also  have  survived — Palaeologos,  and 
Comnena  and  Laskaris,  the  last  being  not  uncommon. 

Among  the  mass  of  the  people,  however,  surnames  seem 
hardly  to  have  existed  before  the  liberation  of  Greece  from 

Ottoman  domination,  and  modern  patronym- 

Modem         iCs  have  been  created    by    various  methods. 

Surnames        Families    settling    in    new    localities    would 

frequently  be  designated  by  their  patris, 
or  place  of  origin,  in  its  adjectival  form.  Trades,  also,  as  with 
us,  have  furnished  many  surnames.  The  direct  forefather 
of  a  modern  Metaxas  will  have  followed  the  calling  of  a 
weaver  of  silk  ;  and  a  blacksmith  progenitor  has  supplied 
the  Petalas  with  their  surname.  A  considerable  number 
have  originated  in  Christian  names  to  which  have  been 
added  the  terminations  opoulos,  ides,  akes,  or  akos,  which 
are  equivalent  to  the  English  "  son,"  the  first  being 
characteristic  of  the  Peloponnesos,  the  second  of  Crete,  the 
third  of  Maina,  while  the  fourth  is  more  or  less  general. 

The  Turkish  prefix  Hadji  denotes  that  a  forebear  has  made 
the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  ;  that  of  Pappa,  combined  with 
a  Christian  name  and  the  termination  of  opoulos,  proclaims 
descent  from  a  parish  priest  ;  while  not  a  few  heads  of  families 

1  The  "  Phanariots  "  are  descendants  of  the  Byzantine  Greek 
community  who,  after  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  were 
settled  by  Sultan  Mahommed  I  in  the  quarter  of  the  capital  termed  the 
Phanar,  or  "  Beacon,"  situated  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Golden 
Horn. 


The  Monarchy  59 

have  bequeathed  to  their  descendants  the  Greek  or  Turkish 
soubriquets  acquired  in  consequence  of  some  physical  defect 
or  peculiarity.  Karatheodory,  for  instance,  signifies  "  Black 
Theodore," x  Mavromichalis,  "  Black  Michael,"  Deliyanni, 
"  Mad  Johnny,"  Kambouroglou,  "  The  Lame  Man's  Son," 
and  so  on.  Diminutives  of  Christian  names,  for  the  formation 
of  which  the  Greek  language  possesses  a  curious  facility, 
have  also  been  made  considerable  use  of  in  the  coining  by  the 
people  of  patronymics,  masculine  diminutives  being  usually 
formed  by  the  addition  of  aki.  In  common  parlance,  however, 
baptismal  names  are  still  much  more  generally  used  than 
surnames,  and  one  may,  for  instance,  hear  the  house  of  a 
wealthy  man  familiarly  referred  to — but  without  any 
disrespectful  intention — as  "  Jack's  House." 

1  The  Turkish  Kdra,  and  Greek  Mdvro,  though  meaning  literally 
"  black,"  when  coupled  with  proper  names  usually  denote  some  moral 
quality  and  signify  "  brave,"  "  famous,"  "  notorious,"  etc.  The  city 
of  Bucharest  is,  in  one  folk-ballad,  alluded  to  as  Mdvro  Bucharisti. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EDUCATION 

Enthusiasm  for  learning  would  appear  to  be  quite  as 
characteristic  of  the  modern  as  it  was  of  the  ancient  Hellenes. 
Alike  under  Slav  and  Venetian  rule  and  during  the  dark  days 
of  Ottoman  domination  a  continued  effort  was  made  to  keep 
alive  learning  among  the  nation  generally;  and  on  the  final 
expulsion  of  the  Turks  the  establishment  of  an  adequate 
national  system  of  education  was  one  of  the  first  cares  of  the 
new  Government.  Notwithstanding  the  financial  difficulties 
with  which  the  State  has  had  to  contend,  its  educational 
system  has  been  gradually  developed  and  extended  until 
the  Greeks  can  now  claim  to  be,  with  one  exception,  the 
most  highly  educated  nation  in  Europe. 

In   organisation   the   Hellenic   system   of   education   now 

established  resembles  that   of  Germany,   on  which  it   was 

Th  chiefly  modelled,  and  is  controlled,  in  common 

Educational  with  Ecclesiastical  affairs,  by  the  Ministry 
System  of  Qf  Public  Instruction,  which  recognises  three 
classes  of  public  schools — (1)  The  Deme,  or 
primary  schools ;  (2)  "  Hellenic  "  schools,  and  (3)  "  Gymnasia," 
the  courses  of  instruction  in  all  of  which  form  one  single  series. 
There  are  now  in  the  Greek  kingdom  over  1,400  primary 
schools  for  boys,  and  400  for  girls,  together  with  nearly  900 
rural  schools  for  young  children  of  both  sexes,  funds  for 
the  maintenance  of  which  are  obtained  by  three  different 
methods.  In  Athens  and  some  other  large  towns  the  Deme 
schools  are,  for  instance,  supported  entirely  from  the  municipal 
chest ;  in  other  less  wealthy  municipalities,  the  expense  is 
shared  by  the  State  ;  while  in  the  poorest  class  of  Demes 
the  entire  support  of  the  schools  is  undertaken  by  the  State. 
The  general  supervision  of  these  schools  in  each  Prefecture 
is  vested  in  a  council  composed  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese, 

60 


Education  61 

the  director  of  the  local  "  Gymnasium  "  or  "  Hellenic  "  school, 
a  school  inspector,  and  two  leading  inhabitants  one  of  whom 
must  be  either  a  merchant  or  a  manufacturer  and  the  other 
a  professional  man.  The  inspectors  are  almost  always  men, 
three  ladies  only  being  employed  in  this  capacity  in  all  Greece. 
Individually  the  Deme  schools  were  formerly  managed  by 
the  local  council  ;  but  this  proving  unsatisfactory  in  rural 
districts  owing  to  the  ignorance  of  educational  requirements 
most  frequently  displayed  by  its  members,  the  control  of 
these  schools  has  now  also  been  centralised. 

Elementary  education  at  a  Deme  school  is  both  compulsory 
and  gratuitous,  parents  being  only  required  to  pay  for  school- 
books  with  a  nominal  fee  for  the  diploma 
State  granted   at   the   end   of   the   course.     These 

Schools^  Deme  schools  are  of  two  grades,  termed 
respectively  "  common  "  and  "  complete." 
In  the  former,  which  consist  of  only  four  classes,  the  pupils 
pass  out  at  the  end  of  as  many  years,  while  in  the  latter, 
which  have  the  full  complement  of  six  classes,  the  pupils 
remain  for  six  years.  "  Complete  "  schools  exist  however, 
only  in  the  larger  towns  of  the  kingdom.  All  children  on 
attaining  the  age  of  six  are  required  to  enter  the  Deme  schools 
in  which  they  are  taught,  in  addition  to  the  "  three  R's," 
geography,  ancient  and  modern  Greek  history,  singing  and 
drawing,  the  further  subjects  taught  in  the  two  higher  classes 
of  the  complete  schools  including  botany,  geometry,  and  the 
elements  of  geology,  the  study  of  some  of  the  least  difficult 
classics,  such  as  JEsop  and  Xenophon,  being  also  included  in 
the  curriculum. 

In   addition  to  the  state-supported  Deme  schools  there 

exist    also    in    various    parts   of    Greece    over   200   private 

elementary  schools  having  a  total  attendance 

Private         0f    some    9,000    children.     Of    these    nearly 

Schools^      three-fourths    are    for    girls ;     and    parents 

living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  any  such  school 

are  at  liberty  to  send  their  children  to  it,  instead  of  to  the 


62  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

public  school,  the  subjects  taught  being  precisely  the  same. 
Boarders  being  received  as  well  as  day  pupils,  these  private 
schools  have  proved  a  great  boon  to  children  whose  families 
live  in  districts  of  "  Enslaved  Hellas  "  *  possessing  few  educa- 
tional advantages  ;  and  even  in  democratic  Greece  there  are 
many  parents  of  the  wealthier  class  who  prefer  that  their 
children  should  not  mix  with  "  the  common  herd."  In  the 
case  of  girls  these  schools  no  doubt  offer  certain  advantages  ; 
but  the  general  opinion  is  that  boys  who  have  attended  the 
public  schools  are  better  equipped  for  the  battle  of  life  than 
those  thus  privately  educated. 

The  "  Hellenic  "  schools  are  so  termed  because  of  their 

specially  classical  curriculum  on  the  analogy  of  the  German 

Lateinschulen.     Of  these  there  are  some  280, 

"  ?eilen,ic  "     with  an  attendance  of  from  18,000  to  20,000 
Schools.  _, 

pupils  averaging  in  age  from  twelve  to  fifteen 

years.  At  these  schools  attendance  is  voluntary ;  but 
as  they  are  state-supported,  and  a  first-rate  education 
is  here  obtainable  for  a  nominal  fee  of  8  drachma — 6s.  6d. 
— expense  is  no  bar  to  entry.  Hellenic  schools  consist 
of  either  two  or  three  "  forms,"  the  latter  being  designated 
Scholar  cheia,  and  the  full  course  extends  over  three  years. 
The  curriculum,  which  is  arranged  by  the  Ministry  of  Edu- 
cation, provides  for  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty  hours  of  study 
a  week,  modern  and  ancient  Greek  occupying  seven  or  eight 
hours  ;  and  among  the  other  subjects  studied  are  mathematics, 
physical  science,  geography,  orthography,  and  drawing. 
In  these,  as  in  all  other  State  schools,  Roman  Catholic  and 
Orthodox  Greek  pupils  read  Bible-history  in  class,  theology 
proper  being  imparted  to  the  former  at  home  by  their  own 
priests,  and  to  those  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  by  their  own 
Rabbis.  Pupils  in  the  second  class  begin  the  study  of  French, 
the  only  modern  language  taught  in  the  National  schools, 
to  which  two  hours  a  week  are  devoted,  one  hour  only  being 

1  'H  Aov\r)  ''HUos  the  ancient  Hellenic  lands  still  under  Ottoman 
rule  are  thus  termed  by  the  Greeks. 


Education  63 

set  apart  for  Latin,  which  it  is,  indeed,  proposed  to  exclude 
altogether,  its  literature  bein  considered  as  at  best  but  an 
excellent  copy  of  the  Greek  classics.  Boys  who  have  passed 
through  the  two  highest  forms  of  the  "  complete  "  Deme 
schools,  which  are  considered  as  equivalent  to  the  two  lowest 
of  a  "  Hellenic  "  school,  on  entering  the  latter  usually  find 
themselves  placed  at  least  in  the  second,  if  not  in  the 
highest  form. 

The  "  Gymnasia  "  form  the  highest  class  of  public  schools, 
and,  with  the  "  Hellenic  "  above  described,  afford  a  sound 

secondary  education  to    the    Greek    youth 
"Gymnasia."    of    all    sorts    and    conditions.     For    in    the 

Gymnasia,  as  in  the  Hellenic  schools,  the 
entrance  fees  are  merely  nominal,  fifteen  drachma  being 
payable  for  the  first  six  months  of  each  year  and  ten  for  the 
second,  the  only  additional  expense  involved  being  the 
purchase  of  class  books.  The  curriculum  occupies  a  period 
of  four  years,  during  which  the  pupil  passes  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest  of  as  many  corresponding  forms,  from  thirty-one 
to  thirty-five  hours'  attendance  per  week  in  the  lecture  rooms 
being  required  of  him.  The  course  of  study  in  the  Gymnasia 
being  pre-eminently  classical  and  theoretical,  ten  hours  per 
week  are  devoted  to  ancient  Greek,  two  or  more  to  Latin, 
and  as  man}'  to  French,  the  only  modern  language  taught, 
while  the  remaining  hours  of  study  are  occupied  with  general 
and  scripture  history,  botany,  zoology  and  mathematics,  or 
theology,  philosophy  and  logic,  according  to  the  standing  of 
the  pupils,  the  seniors  in  their  last  year  mastering  the 
geography  of  the  world. 

The  necessity  for  physical,  side  by  side  with  intellectual 
training  having  some  years  ago  been  recognised  by  the  educa- 
tional authorities,  gymnastic  exercises  were  made  compulsory 
in  all  schools,  private  as  well  as  public,  and  for  girls  as  well  as 
for  boys,  the  physically  defective  only  being  exempt  from 
attendance  at  the  classes  which  occupy  an  hour  of  every 
alternate  day  in  the  Deme  and  Hellenic  schools,  and  five  hours 


64  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

per  week  in  the  Gymnasia.  The  same  enactment  provides 
that,  wherever  possible,  swimming  shall  also  be  taught  to  all 
schoolboys,  those  in  the  senior  classes  of  the  intermediate 
schools  being  required  in  addition  to  practise  rowing  and  target 
shooting,  all  the  schools  taking  part  in  the  annual  gymnastic 
competitions.  Concurrently  with  this  inclusion  of  gymnastics 
in  the  curriculum  of  the  public  schools  an  official  School  of 
Gymnasts  was  created  for  the  training  of  those  who  would  be 
called  upon  to  teach  these  exercises.  The  formation  of 
gymnastic  clubs  soon  followed,  of  which  there  are  now  a  great 
number,  partly  supported  by  government  subsidies.  With 
these  they  are,  however,  by  degrees  able  to  dispense,  as 
athletics  are  yearly  growing  more  popular  with  the  rising 
generation.  An  organisation  calling  itself  the  "  Central 
Union  of  Athletic  and  Gymnastic  Societies "  arranges  for 
the  participation  of  these  clubs  in  the  Panhellenic  games  held 
every  spring  in  the  Stadium,  an  enormous  roofless  erection 
which  occupies  the  site  of  its  prototype  constructed  in 
330  B.C. 

Weekly  half-holidays  not  being  customary  in  Greece  as 
in   European   countries  generally,   school  routine  is  during 

nine  months  of  the  year  diversified  only  by 
Holidays.        the  whole  holidays  with  which  the  greater 

festivals  of  the  ecclesiastical  year  are 
honoured.  Like  all  southern  peoples,  the  Greeks  are  early 
risers,  and  the  schools  open  betimes — the  hour  varying 
according  to  season,  the  major  part  of  the  day's  work  being 
already  accomplished  by  noon,  when  the  church  bells  of  the 
neighbourhood  announce  the  national  dinner  hour.  The 
long  vacation,  which  extends  from  mid- June  to  mid- 
September,  applies  equally  to  schools  of  all  three  grades, 
as  also  to  the  University. 

The  director  of  a  "  complete  "  Deme  school  is  required 
to  have  undergone  a  three  years'  training  at  one  of  the  colleges 
established  for  that  purpose  in  the  capital,  in  Corfu,  and 
in  the  provincial  towns  of  Tripolis  and  Larissa  respectively. 


Education  65 

There  is  also  another  class  of   elementary  school    teacher 
who  has  studied  only  one  year  in  those  establishments,  and  still 
a  third  category  who  has  qualified  by  passing  through  a  secon- 
dary course  of  study  at  a  "  Hellenic  "  school, 
Elementary      though  this  lower  class  of  masters  is  happily 
Teachers        tending   to    disappear.    From    a     pecuniary 
point  of  view    there    is    little    to    induce    a 
man  of  any  ability  to  enter  upon  a  scholastic  career,  the 
director   of   a  first-class   Deme   school    receiving  little  more 
than  £70  a  year ;    while  the  salaries  of  directors  of  Hellenic 
schools,  whose  attainments  and  training  are  naturally  of  a 
higher  quality,  range  between  £8  and  £10  per  month,  those 
of  assistant-masters  not  exceeding  half  those  sums. 

The  necessity  for  a  technical  in  addition  to  a  purely  literary 
education  of  the  Greek  youth  of  to-day  having  for  some 
time    past    been    recognised    by    the    more 
Technical       practically  minded  among  Hellenic  statesmen 
and    philanthropists,    a    certain   number   of 
institutions  have  been  established  with  this  object.     Among 
these  are  two  Schools  of  Commerce  subsidised  by  the  Govern- 
ment, one  at  the  Capital  and  the  other  at  the  thriving  seaport 
of   Patras,   with  a  third  at   Kephallenia — an   island  noted 
for  the  keen  commercial  instinct  of  its  inhabitants — privately 
founded  and  endowed.     In  another  island,  Naxos,  there  is 
also  a  Commercial  school  conducted  by  the  French  "  Brother- 
hood of  the  Holy  Cross  "  which  is  under  the  special  protection 
of  the  Republic  in  the  person  of  its  Minister  at  Athens. 

Another  important  institution  of  this  class,  the 
"  Rousopoulos "  Industrial  and  Commercial  Academy  of 
Athens,  privately  founded  about  twenty  years  ago,  provides 
a  good  general  education  in  addition  to  technical  instruction. 
For  the  latter  six  special  schools  are  provided,  dealing 
respectively  with  agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce, 
engineering,  mining,  and  the  mercantile  marine,  the  French, 
English,  and  Italian  languages — all  necessary  in  Levantine 
commerce — being  taught  in  the  preliminary  school,  and  Latin 
5— (2385) 


66  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

to  the  students  in  the  technical  schools.  Turkish,  however, 
though  equally  necessary,  is  neglected.  For  the  course 
in  any  one  of  these  departments,  which  lasts  for  two  years, 
the  fees  are  about  £8  yearly,  and  in  the  preliminary  school 
£13,  board  costing  an  additional  £48  per  annum.  In  this 
academy  200  or  more  pupils  are  usually  found  in  training, 
drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  also  not  infrequently 
also  from  the  neighbouring  Ottoman  empire,  a  staff  of  thirty- 
six  professors  being  provided  for  the  various  schools.  The 
pupils  on  completing  their  respective  courses  readily  find 
employment  ;  and  the  importance  of  the  work  done  by 
the  institution  is  both  publicly  and  practically  recognised 
by  the  municipalities  of  Athens  and  the  Piraeus,  from  each  of 
which  it  receives  an  annual  subsidy.  Another,  but  smaller, 
institution  of  the  same  class  as  this  Academy,  the  "  Athens 
school  of  Trades  and  Industries,"  has  also  preparatory, 
commercial,  and  technical  departments. 

But  although  universal  education  for  boys  is  now  the  rule 
in   Greece,    the  proportion   of  girls  who   receive  a  similar 

systematic  and  complete  course  of  instruction 
EJemf-  is  by  no  means  yet  very  large.     The  only 

"  mixed  "  schools  found  in  the  country  are 
those  for  infants  and  the  smaller  Deme  schools  of  sparsely 
inhabited  villages  ;  and  a  striking  disparity  is  evident  in  the 
number  of  those  specially  provided  for  girls  in  all  the  three 
grades  of  Deme,  Hellenic  and  Gymnasia,  even  primary 
schools  exclusively  for  girls  being  still,  as  compared  with  those 
for  boys,  only  about  one  in  five.  The  chief  reason  for  this 
lack  of  girls'  schools  is  the  lack  of  demand  for  them  by  parents. 
Marriage  being  considered  a  Greek  girl's  vocation  in  life, 
education — and  especially  higher  education — is  deemed  super- 
fluous by  the  Hellenic  paterfamilias,  the  old-fashioned 
prejudice  that  it  unfits  them  for  domestic  life  dying  very 
hard  among  the  nation  generally.  This  is  more  especially 
the  case  in  the  provinces  of  Northern  Greece  added  to  the 
kingdom  some  thirty  years  ago,  where  lack  of  funds  has 


Education  67 

prevented   the    thorough   carrying   out    of   the   educational 
system  established  in  the  rest  of  the  kingdom. 

The  first  regular  training  college  for  female  schoolmistresses, 
the  "  Pallas,"  was  founded  in  1874,  and  in  the  following 
year,  thanks  to  the  munificence  of  M.  M. 
Training  Zappas  and  the  exertions  of  the  "  Ladies' 
Women  °r  Syllogos,"  a  second  was  organised  and 
named,  in  honour  of  its  chief  benefactors,  the 
"  Zappeion."  In  each  of  these  institutions  the  curriculum 
resembles  in  all  essential  particulars  that  of  similar  colleges 
in  Western  Europe,  and  their  Greek  graduates  have  not  been 
inferior  in  intellectual  attainments  to  those  of  France  and 
Germany.  Training  colleges  with  equally  advanced  methods 
were  subsequently  established  in  various  provincial  towns 
with  a  view  to  providing  teachers  for  the  Deme  schools  of 
their  districts  which  had  hitherto  been  supplied  from  the 
Athenian  colleges.  Another  important  institution  combining 
High  School  and  Training  College  is  the  "  Arsakeion,"  which 
has  flourishing  branches  at  Patras,  Larissa  and  Corfu,  the 
total  average  attendance  at  these  four  establishments  reaching 
the  respectable  number  of  1,800.  This  valuable  institution 
owes  its  origin  to  the  munificence  of,  and  is  named  after,  a 
patriotic  Greek  of  Ioannina,  to  which  Epirote  city,  so  long 
under  Ottoman  domination,  Greece  owes,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  late  eminent  historian,  M.  Paparregopoulos,  "  the 
regeneration  of  education."1 

1  In  the  ancient  basilica  of  St.  Demetrios  at  Salonica — once  the 
cathedral  church,  but  converted  by  the  Turks  into  a  mosque  in  1397 — 
is  still  to  be  seen  an  ancient  mural  tablet  bearing  a  Greek  inscription 
in  which  are  extolled  the  charity  and  munificence  of  a  Greek  lady  of 
Ioannina,  named  the  Kyria  Spandoni  ;  and  the  excellent  Greek  schools 
of  Salonica  owe  their  prosperity  to  another  lady  of  the  lake-girt  capital 
of  Epirus,  the  Kyria  Kastrissio,  who  bequeathed  to  them  the  whole 
of  the  large  fortune  she  inherited  from  her  husband,  a  native  of 
Salonica.  The  memory  of  this  benefactress  is  annually  honoured  with 
a  Mnerndsynon,  or  Commemoration  ceremony,  by  the  Greek  community 
of  Salonica  ;  and  when  residing  in  this  city  I  never  failed  to  avail 
myself  of  the  invitation  courteously  extended  to  me  by  the  Ephors  of 
the  schools. 


68  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Education    in    the    Arsakeion    colleges    is    not,    however, 
gratuitous,  though  the  fees  are  low,  day-pupils  paying  accord- 
ing to  age  from  20  to  40  drachma  (16s.  to 

TheCo^ire^sei°n  32s')  Per  month>  and  boarders  100  dr.  (£4) 
which  includes  the  cost  of  school-books. 
While  providing  instruction  for  girls  of  all  ages  these 
institutions  at  the  same  time  constitute  training  colleges  for 
teachers.  Infants  enter  first  the  Kindergarten  class,  and 
after  passing  through  the  four  classes  corresponding  to 
those  of  the  Deme  schools,  are  admitted  to  the  secondary 
course.  This  includes  such  advanced  subjects  as  psychology 
and  philosophy,  ancient  Greek  and  modern  languages,  French 
being  compulsory,  as  is  also  singing,  and,  in  the  higher  classes, 
drawing  and  painting.  Instruction  is  also  given  in  domestic 
economy  and  needlework  of  various  kinds,  as  also  in  hygiene, 
and  the  same  number  of  hours  per  week  are  devoted  to 
gymnastic  exercises  as  in  the  Government  schools.  The 
organisation  of  these  colleges  is  essentially  democratic,  and 
partly  on  this  account,  and  partly  owing  also  to  the  establish- 
ment in  the  capital  and  its  neighbourhood  of  some  good 
private  schools,  the  Arsakeion,  which  was  originally  very  well 
attended,  has  of  late  years  somewhat  lost  favour  with  the 
wealthier  section  of  Athenian  families. 

Of    private     schools    for    girls,     the     oldest    established 
is   that   called — after   its   missionary   founder — the   "  Hill  " 
school,  which  was  founded  at  Athens  so  long 
The  "Hill"     ag0   as   1831,   before  that   city  became  the 
SCSs.f0r      capital  of  the  Hellenic  kingdom.     Originally 
a  very  modest  enterprise,  it  met  with  deserved 
success,  and  has  been  for  some  time  past  located  in  a  pleasant 
house  built  for  the  purpose  which  usually  accommodates  about 
three  dozen  boarders  and  from  160  to  171  day  pupils,  the 
majority  of  the  former  being,   as  in   many  of  the  private 
schools  for  boys,  either  natives  of  Thessaly — the  most  back- 
ward educationally  of  all  the  Greek  provinces — or  of "  Enslaved 
Hellas."     The  present  directress  of  the  Hill  school  is  Miss 


Education  69 

Mason,  a  niece  of  its  founder,  and  under  her  able  management 
the  institution  continues  to  prosper.  But  though  nominally 
a  Mission  school,  no  attempt  is  made  to  proselytise  the  pupils  ; 
and  the  religious  difficulty  is  met  by  the  provision  on  the  pre- 
mises of  a  chapel  in  which  services  are  held  on  Sundays  and 
festivals  according  to  the  Orthodox  rite,  Mass  being  said 
and  a  short  sermon  based  on  the  Gospel  for  the  day  being 
preached  by  a  Greek  chaplain,  while  the  girls  act  "in  turn 
as  readers  and  servers  at  the  altar.  The  pupils  range  in  age 
from  five  to  seventeen,  and  are  divided  into  seven  classes,  the 
hours  of  study  being  the  same  as  those  of  the  National  schools. 
The  Hill  school  offers  considerable  facilities  for  the  acquisition 
of  foreign  languages,  all  the  pupils  learning  English  and  French 
in  addition  to  Modern  Greek,  and  in  its  five  senior  classes 
Ancient  Greek  forms  also  one  of  the  subjects  of  study. 

The  University  of  Athens,  which  forms  one  of  an  imposing 
group  of  buildings,  was  founded  so  long  ago  as  1837,  very 
shortly  after  the  seat  of  Government  had 
Thof  Athens lty  ^een  transferred  to  that  city  from  Tripolis, 
the  first  capital  of  Greece.  Its  seventy- 
fifth  anniversary  coinciding  with  the  visit  of  the  Congress  of 
Orientalists  to  the  Greek  capital  in  1912,  the  double  event 
was  celebrated  with  great  public  rejoicings.  The  University 
of  Athens  comprises  five  faculties — Law,  Medicine,  Philosophy, 
Mathematics  and  Theology,  the  first  being  the  most  numer- 
ously attended,  and  the  last — for  reasons  elsewhere  alluded 
to — the  least  popular  ;  and  the  course  extends  over  a  period 
of  four  years.  The  fees  are  so  moderate  as  to  place  University 
education  within  the  reach  of  all  who  can  devote  to  it  the 
necessary  time,  the  total  expense  in  fees  for  the  four  years' 
course  not  exceeding  £30  ;  and  the  youth  of  Hellas  were,  during 
the  past  century,  in  every  way  encouraged  to  graduate  at 
this  seat  of  learning.  The  result  has  been  the  creation  of  an 
intellectual  class  far  too  numerous  for  the  professions  for 
which  they  had  qualified  themselves,  and  unfitted  to  earn 
a  living  by  honest  manual  toil.     Within  the  last  quarter  of  a 


70  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

century,  however,  the  grave  national  danger  of  this  state  of 
affairs — of  which  the  wiser  Hellenes  have  long  been  conscious 
— has  become  more  generally  recognised  ;  and  simultaneously 
with  the  establishment  of  technical  schools  there  has  been  a 
great  falling  off  in  the  number  of  aspirants  to  a  University 
career.  Between  1890  and  1903  the  number  of  students 
had  diminished  by  more  than  a  third,  and  there  are  now  on 
an  average  under  600  freshmen  a  year,  the  sons  of  "  Outside 
Greeks  "  constituting  about  a  third  of  this  number.  As  in 
Continental  countries  generally,  there  are  no  colleges  as  at 
our  English  Universities,  and  the  students  live  where  they 
please,  without  any  supervision  ;  nor  is  any  difference  in 
status  recognised  between  men  in  their  different  years, 
a  freshman  being,  in  this  democratic  community,  the  equal 
of  any  other  undergraduate.  Little  corporate  life  is  found 
consequently  among  the  alumni  generally,  such  as  exists 
arising  merely  from  the  clannishness  observable  among  those 
hailing  from  the  same  patris — to  use  the  term  by  which  a 
Greek  designates  his  native  town  or  village — and  resulting  in 
the  formation  of  particularist  clubs  similar  to  those  organised 
by  the  cosmopolitan  students  of  the  University  of  Lausanne. 
No  cricket,  football,  or  other  sporting  matches  take  place, 
however,  between  these  clubs,  as  games  occupy  by  no  means 
the  same  place  in  Athenian  University  life  as  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  ;  even  the  gymnastic  drill  which  is  compulsory 
for  undergraduates  in  their  first  and  second  years  was,  on  its 
introduction,  regarded  by  many  as  a  nuisance. 

Though  Greek  undergraduates  constitute  on  the  whole  an 

inoffensive  element  of  the  Athenian  public,  from  which  they 

are  undistinguished  by  college  gown,  cap,  or 

Student^       badge,   student  riots  have  on  two  occasions 

since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 

disturbed  the  peace  of  the  capital,  one  of  these  having  led 

more  or  less  directly  to  a  change  of  Ministry.     This  was  the 

so-called   "  Gospel   Riot  "   of   November,    1901,   which   was 

due  chiefly  to  the  indignation  of  the  students  and  others  at 


Education  71 

the  publication  of  a  translation  into  the  vernacular  of  the 
New  Testament  ;  the  second  series  of  disturbances  being 
also  connected  with  the  linguistic  question. 

It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  the  more  seriously  minded  Greeks, 
after  graduating  at  their  own  university,  to  complete  their 
studies  abroad,  not  a  few  of  these  subsequently  qualifying 
for  degrees  in  the  most  famous  centres  of  learning  in  Western 
Europe.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with  those  who  propose 
to  embark  on  a  literary,  scientific,  or  professorial  career  ; 
and  among  occupants  of  Chairs  in  the  various  faculties 
comprised  within  the  University  of  Athens  may  be  found 
many  whose  names  are  well  known  in  academic  circles 
throughout  Europe. 


CHAPTER    VII 

LITERATURE   AND   ART 

The  Greeks  are  great  readers  of  newspapers ;  the  majority  of 
the  nation  may,  indeed,  be  said  to  read  nothing  else  ;    and 

in  Greece  the  Press  plays  consequently  a 
The  Greek      more  important  part  in  the  life  of  the  people 

than  in  any  other  country.  It  is  estimated 
that  every  Greek  man,  woman,  and  child  either  reads,  or 
hears  read,  at  least  one  paper  every  day,  all  without  exception 
finding  his  or  her  chief  interest  in  its  political  columns.  Nor 
are  they  exclusive  as  to  their  daily  news-sheet.  A  Greek  will 
read  anything  that  comes  to  hand  in  the  shape  of  a  journal, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  every  copy  of  a  newspaper  sold  is 
read  by  at  least  a  dozen  persons.  The  first  Greek  daily  paper 
was  printed  at  Mesolonghi,  nearly  ninety  years  ago,  before 
Greece  became  a  kingdom,  an  Englishman,  Col.  Leicester 
Stanhope,  being  responsible  for  its  production.  Fourteen  or 
fifteen  morning  and  evening  papers  are  now  published  daily  in 
Athens,  consisting  of  four,  or  at  the  most  six  pages  of  moderate 
size,  the  price  of  several  being  but  five  leptti,  or  one  halfpenny. 
Halfpenny  journalism  was  first  introduced  by  the  Skrip  and 
the  Embros,  this  innovation  obliging  some  other  sheets  for  a 
time  also  to  lower  their  prices.  The  result  proved,  however, 
so  financially  disastrous,  that  several  leading  journals  reverted 
ere  long  to  their  original  price  of  ten  leptd,  a  penny.  The 
great  demand  for  news  notwithstanding,  journalism  is  by  no 
means  a  profitable  enterprise  in  Greece.  For  the  art  of 
advertising  is  yet  in  its  infancy  ;  paper,  being  a  foreign  pro- 
duct, and  consequently  highly  taxed,  is  expensive  ;  and  the 
daily  circulation  of  the  most  widely-read  journal  does  not 
exceed  15,000.     The  distribution  and  sale  of  all  newspapers 

72 


Literature  and  Art  73 

is,  besides,  centred  entirely  in  the  hands  of  an  agency  organised 
and  controlled  by  a  single  man,  M.  Zangaris,  who  began  life 
as  a  shoeblack  and  newsboy,  and  is  now  the  "  W.  H.  Smith  " 
of  Hellenic  journalism  ;  and  as  the  vendors  are  allowed  by 
this  agency  from  20  to  25  per  cent,  on  the  price  of  the  papers, 
the  profits  to  the  proprietors  would  seem  to  be  but  infinitesimal. 
Office  expenses  are,  however,  not  very  considerable.  Office 
rents  are  low,  the  staff  is  small,  and  though  it  works  seven 
days  a  week — for  Sunday  issues  are  customary — is  not  liber- 
ally remunerated  ;  telegrams  cost  next  to  nothing,  and  the 
foreign  newspapers  which  arrive  three  times  weekly  contribute 
largely,  with  the  help  of  paste  and  scissors,  to  the  contents 
of  an  Athenian  daily.  Certain  journals  are  printed  in 
parti-coloured  inks,  red  as  well  as  black,  flaring  headlines 
stretching  across  the  pages,  and  the  most  ordinary  pieces  of 
news  are  sensationally  announced. 

Home  politics  are  given  the  greatest  prominence  in  Greek 
journals,  the  politics  of  foreign  countries  coming  next  in 
importance,  daily  telegrams  being  received  by  the  "  National 
Agency,"  an  association  corresponding  to  Reuter,  which  is  sub- 
sidised by  the  Government.  With  regard  to  social  matters 
there  is  little  sensationalism  and  less  scandalmongering.  A 
column  is  usually  devoted  to  "  Athens  day  by  day,"  record- 
ing the  arrival  and  departure  of  distinguished  strangers, 
audiences  held  by  the  king,  the  movements  of  the  royal 
family,  and  similar  social  events  of  public  interest ;  another, 
under  the  heading  of  Me  liga  logia,  gives  in  condensed 
form  items  of  interesting  information  selected  from  the  world's 
press.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Greeks  themselves  the  literary 
style  of  the  Press  is  improving  with  every  year,  both  as  regards 
political  articles  and  those  dealing  with  social  topics.1    At  the 

1  The  long  sustained  and  hotly  debated  controversy  with  respect 
to  the  form  of  Greek  to  be  officially  accepted  appears  at  last  to  have 
been  decided  in  favour  of  the  Ka6apivov<Ta,  or  "  pure  "  form  which  is 
now  used  in  all  government  departments  and  State-directed  educational 
establishments,  as  also  more  or  less  by  writers  for  the  Press.  The 
language  which   finds   most   favour  in   the  higher   literary  circles  of 


74  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

present  day  the  Athenian  Press  is  represented  by  a  number  of 
high-class  newspapers,  the  morning  dailies  including  the 
Akropolis,  Athenai,  Asty,  NeonAsty,  Kairoi,  Chronos,  and  Skrip, 
and  the  evening  issues  the  Hestia,  Esperini,  and  Ephemeris. 

Greek  politics  having  hitherto  been  a  question  of  party 
leaders  rather  than  of  principles,  journals  are  not  as  a  rule  un- 
compromisingly partisan  in  their  attitude  with 
Political  regard  to  questions  of  the  day.  Several  have, 
indeed,  been  known  to  change  sides  with 
remarkable  rapidity,  censuring  one  day  a  statesman  whom  they 
praise  on  the  morrow,  and  vice  versa.  Each  has,  however,  its 
peculiar  characteristic.  The  oldest  established  is  the  Kairoi, 
or  "  Times,"  one  of  the  smaller  papers,  now  in  its  forty-sixth 
year  of  publication.  A  leading  and  very  reputable  Conser- 
vative paper,  patronised  by  the  Palace,  is  the  Asty,  edited  by 
M.  Anninos.  This  journal  is  always  well-informed  on  sub- 
jects relating  to  England,  and  represents  the  old  journalism, 
its  rival,  the  Neon  Asty,  edited  by  M.  Kaklamanos — which 
owed  its  origin  to  a  schism  which  took  place  about  ten  years 
ago  among  the  staff  of  the  Asty — usually  taking  diametrically 
opposite  views  both  in  politics  and  other  matters  ;  while 
such  papers  as  the  Skrip  and  the  Embros  are  bought  for 
the  "  latest  news,"  that  being  their  specialty.  Other 
journals,  the  morning  Akropolis  and  the  evening  Hestia,  for 
instance,  often  contain  in  addition  to  news  carefully-written 
and  often  brilliant  articles  on  social  and  literary  topics.  As 
the  Athenian  journals  circulate  everywhere  in  Greece  and 
the  Islands,  only  two  provincial  towns,  Volo 

Provincial       an(j  paTTas  have  their  local  dailies,  such  out- 
Journals.  ' 

lying  centres  as  Syra  and  Corfu  contenting 

themselves  with  a  weekly  or  bi-weekly  issue,  while  other 

journals  cater  specially  for  the  needs  of  the  "  outside  Greeks  " 

Greece  is,  however,  rather  an  amalgamation  of  the  puristic  and  the 
demotic  forms.  And  it  will  probably  be  long  before  Academic  Greek 
completely  supplants  the  popular  form  of  the  language,  which,  amus- 
ingly enough,  is  often,  in  unguarded  moments,  used  even  by  its 
fiercest  opponents. 


Literature  and  Art  75 

domiciled  in  Turkey  and  elsewhere.  One  of  these,  the  Krdtos, 
a  bi-weekly  published  in  Athens,  is  the  only  Greek  newspaper 
belonging  to  shareholders.  Among  the  contributors  to  the 
Krdtos  are  many  eminent  men  of  letters,  it  is  non-partisan  in 
politics,  and  in  its  pages  the  pan-Hellenic  propaganda  is 
strenuously  carried  on.  Another  Hellenic  organ  of  equally 
high  standing  catering  for  Greeks  abroad  is  the  Neon 
Hemera,  or  "  New  Day,"  published  at  Trieste. 

A  certain  number  of  weekly  magazines  and  reviews  are 
also  produced  in  Greece.     The  two  dealing  with  economics 
are    Economic    Greece,    and    the    Economic 
Professional      Chronicle,  the  former  directed  by  the  banker, 
"  Organs""*     ^*  J-   J-  Minettas,  a  recognised  authority  on 
Greek    financial    and    industrial    questions, 
whose  opinions  are  frequently  quoted  in   foreign  financial 
publications.     The   legal   profession    is   catered   for   by  the 
Themis  ;  the  medical  by  a  journal  published  at  Syra ;  while 
the   bi-monthly  Nautical  Greece  constitutes  the  organ  of  the 
navy.     There  are  also  periodicals  dealing  with  subjects  of 
special  interest  for  the  large  communities  from  outlying  parts  of 
the  kingdom  who  have  made  their  home  in  the  Capital.     Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  Voice  of  the  Cyclades,  which  caters 
for  the  ^Egean  Islanders,  and  the  Voice  of  Epiros,  dealing  more 
particularly  with  the  affairs  of  that  province.     Among  minor 
weekly  publications  of  a  more  popular  character  may  be 
mentioned  a  little  magazine  entitled  the  Patria,  published 
with  the  object  of  inculcating  sentiments  of  patriotism  to  the 
Fatherland  and  of  loyalty  to  the  Church.     This  magazine, 
which  is  largely  distributed  among  soldiers  and  sailors,  contains 
among  other  matter,  biographies  of  national  heroes,  and  articles 
of  a  high  religious  and  moral  character.     An  admirable  bi- 
weekly of  high  reputation  is  the  old-estab- 
Rev'eC  s         lished  Messager  d'Athenes,  written  in  academic 
French,  and  edited  by   a   lady,  Mdlle.    Ste- 
phanopoli,    the    daughter  of   its    present    proprietor.     This 
interesting  review  deals  ably,  and  from  an  international  rather 


76  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

than  an  exclusively  Hellenic  standpoint,  with  political,  literar)', 
archaeological  and  financial  questions  affecting  Greece.  Lately- 
enlarged,  it  now  appears  in  good  up-to-date  form,  and  is  well 
printed.  Another  publication  in  the  French  language,  Les 
Nouvclles  de  Grece,  is  a  long-established,  high-class  illustrated 
weekly,  treating  chiefly  of  politics,  literature,  and  finance, 
which  has  entered  on  a  new  epoch  of  success  since  it  came  into 
the  hands  of  its  present  proprietor,  M.  Zographides,  a  barrister 
and  distinguished  writer,  its  political  and  financial,  as  well  as 
its  literary  and  social  articles  being  all  brightly  and  ably 
written.  Le  Progres  and  Le  Courrier  d'Orient,  both  bi-lingual, 
are  also  well-edited  periodicals.  Of  illustrated  magazines  the 
best  is  the  fortnightly  Panathenaia,  which  is  well  got  up,  and 
contains  good  literary  matter  in  addition  to  illustrations  of  a 
high  order.  There  are  also  several  monthly  artistic  literary 
and  scientific  reviews  of  merit,  such  as  the  Propyl&a,  the 
Orient,  etc. 

Though  the  Greeks  can  hardly,  as  a  nation,  be  said  to  be 
endowed  with  a  keen  sense  of  humour,  they  possess  at  least 

one    comic   journal   which   calls   for   special 
The  Greek       notice  as  being  quite  unique  of  its  kind.    This 

is  the  weekly  Romeos,  to  which  its  editor,  M. 
Soures,  is  a  sole  contributor.  It  is  written  entirely  in 
verse,  chiefly  in  the  so-called  "  political "  metre  of  the 
majority  of  Greek  ballads,  interspersed  here  and  there  with 
lyrics,  and  in  a  diction  composed  of  all  the  various  tongues 
which  make  up  the  lingua  Franca  of  the  Levant  mingled  with 
Athenian  slang  and  phrases  from  classical  Greek.  In 
this  curious  jargon  every  topic  of  the  day,  every  public  man, 
every  current  incident  is  made  the  subject  of  facetious  dia- 
logue between  M.  Soures'  two  puppets,  "  Phasoulis "  and 
"  Perikletos,"  whose  remarks  have  been  characterised  as 
"  never  stale  and  never  insipid." 

Next  to  newspapers,  no  form  of  literature  is  so  largely  read 
in  Greece  as  history,  for  which — and  more  especially,  of 
course,    for   that    of  his  own  country — the  modern  Hellene 


"S 


-   I 


Literature  and  Art  77 

seems  to  have  a  perfect  passion.       So  great,  indeed,  is  the 

demand  for  books  of  a  serious  character  that  Greek  publishers 

find  it  more  profitable  to  produce  historical 

History         ancj  scientific  works  than  even  popular  fiction, 
in  Greece. 

And   it   would   appear   that  no    department 

of  journalism  is  so  well  paid  as  articles  of  an  historical 
and  biographical  character.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  a  number  of  modern  Hellenes  of  the  foremost 
intellectual  rank  have  devoted  themselves  to  historical  studies, 
and  with  distinguished  success,  the  works  of  not  a  few  of 
them  being  already  well  known  in  Europe.  Among  these 
may  be  noted  the  History  of  the  Greek  Nation,  to  the  writing 
of  which  the  late  M.  Paparregopoulos  devoted  many  years. 
This  is  a  monumental  work  in  five  substantial  tomes,  which 
has  already  gone  through  several  editions,  and  is  widely  read, 
some  16,000  complete  copies  having  been  sold  in  the  twenty 
years  following  its  publication.1 

A  recent  issue  of  this  great  work,  which  traces  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  Greek  race  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the 

establishment  of  the  Greek  kingdom,  has  had 
Historical       ^  advantage  of  being  further  elucidated  by 

the  notes  of  its  latest  editor,  Professor  Karo- 
lides,  the  distinguished  professor  of  history,  and  is  pronounced 
to  be  "  a  masterpiece  of  which  any  nation  might  be  proud." 
The  first  impression  of  Professor  Lambro's  important  work 
on  the  same  subject  was  eagerly  awaited  by  a  large  circle  of 
expectant  readers,  and  at  once  bought  up.  Greek  ecclesi- 
astical history  has  also  not  been  neglected,  and  the  "  Seven 
Essays  on  Christian  Greece "  of  the  late  M.  Demetrios 
Bikelas  are  already  well  known  in  this  country  through 
the  able  English  translation  made  by  the  late  Marquis  of 
Bute. 

The  mediaeval  period  of  Greek  history  has  also  had  many 
able  students  and  expositors.     M.   Meliarakes,  the  learned 

1  A   French  abridgment   of  this   great  work  was   published   some 
thirty  years  ago. 


78  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Secretary  of  the  Historical  and  Ethnological  Society  of  Athens, 

has  written  a  History  of  the   Greek   Despotate  of  Epiros  and 

the  Empire  of  Nice,  the    two    new    Hellenic 

Mediasval        States  which  arose  after  the  Latin   conquest 
History.  .  .  n 

of  Constantinople,  and  were  instrumental  in 

keeping  alive  the  Hellenic  tradition.  The  published  results 
of  the  researches  in  the  mediaeval  history  of  Greece  under- 
taken by  Professor  Lambros  have  also  met  with  wide  appre- 
ciation ;  while  those  of  M.  Sathas  on  this  fascinating  period 
have  been  published  at  the  expense  of  the  State  in  a  "  Mediaeval 
Library,"  together  with  his  series  of  Memorials  of  Greek  His- 
tory, based  on  Venetian  archives  and  illustrating  the  state 
of  Greece  under  Venetian  rule.  A  Corfiote  scholar,  the  late 
M.  Romanes,  also  made  this  romantic  period  the  subject  of 
special  study  ;  the  Ottoman  conquest  and  domination  having 
been  dealt  with  by  this  able  and  erudite  writer  in  a  work  en- 
titled Turkish  Rule  in  Hellas.  This  period  has  likewise  been 
carefully  studied  by  other  historians,  first  by  M.  Demetrios 
Kampouroglos  in  two  lengthy  and  scholarly  works,  one  of 
these,  the  History  of  the  Athenians,  being  a  perfect  mine  of 
interesting  and  valuable  information  with  regard  not  only 
to  the  political  events  of  the  time,  but  to  all  that  appertained 
to  the  daily  life  of  the  people  of  Athens.  Half  a  lifetime  has 
also  been  devoted  by  M.  Philadelpheus  to  an  agreeably 
written  work  published  since  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
in  which  the  whole  era  of  Turkish  rule  in  Greece  is 
traversed. 

Modern  Greek  history  appears,  however,  to  have  had  fewer 
attractions  for  scholars,  the  only  authors  of  note  who  have 

occupied    themselves    with    nineteenth    cen- 
G    ftkffi&t         tury    Greece    being    M.   Kyriakides  who,    in 

his  History  of  Contemporary  Hellenism,  deals 
with  events  prior  to  1892  ;  and  M.  Evangelides,  who  has 
constituted  himself  the  chronicler  of  the  reign  of  Otho  as  well 
as  of  the  events  which  more  immediately  followed  the  deposi- 
tion  of   that   sovereign.     Another   "  Library "    bearing   the 


Literature  and  Art  79 

name  of  its  patron,  M.  Marasles,  a  wealthy  and  patriotic 
Greek  of  Odessa,  includes  among  its  publications  translations 
of  a  number  of  masterpieces  both  modern  and  classical. 
Memoirs  of  distinguished  Greek  families  and  biographies  of 
men  of  note  in  Greek  history  are  also  published  from  time 
to  time,  together  with  local  chronicles,  many  of  which  are  of 
great  interest  and  value. 

Nor  is  the  history  of  their  own  country  and  its  relations 
with  other  States  alone  of  interest  to  the  modern  Greek.  In 
the  Faculty  of  History  at  the  University  the  class-room  will 
be  found  crowded  to  repletion  when  an  eminent  lecturer  is 
expected  to  address  the  students  on  such  larger  aspects  of 
the  subject  as  are  comprised  in  General  History  and  its 
philosophy.  Nor  will  the  audience  be  composed  of  students 
only,  but  also  of  many  men  of  mature  age,  eager  for  information 
with  regard  to  the  results  of  recent  historical  research. 

Several  useful  books  of  reference  are  also  regularly  pub- 
lished in  Greece.  Among  these  is  Iglessis'  Annual  Guide  to 
Greece,  a  publication  which  supplies  full  and 
Reference  accurate  information  with  regard  to  the  pro- 
ductions, commerce,  and  government  of  the 
country.  This  valuable  compendium  was  originally  published 
in  Greek  only,  with  a  resume  in  French  as  supplement.  Its 
enterprising  proprietor  and  editor,  M.  Iglessis,  proposes, 
however,  to  issue  in  future  separate  Greek  and  French  editions, 
and  also  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  his  Guide  by  including  in  it 
similar  information  with  regard  to  the  Balkan  countries 
generally.  Other  annuals  published  and  widely  circulated 
in  Greece  are  certain  "  Almanacks,"  more  or  less  on  the  lines 
of  the  English  Whitaker  and  the  French  Hachette,  containing 
much  interesting  and  accurate  information. 

A  Society,  having  for  its  aim  the  dissemination  of  practical 
knowledge  in  an  elementary  form,  was  founded  in  1899  under 
the  patronage  of  Queen  Sophia,  with  M.  Drosines,  the  novelist, 
as  secretary,  its  first  President  having  been  the  late  M. 
Demetrios  Bikelas.      A  new  volume  in   this  series   is  issued 


80  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

every  month,   and    the  price  of  forty  leptd,  or  4d.,    brings 

these  admirable  little  volumes  within  reach  of  the  poorest. 

But  though  issued  at  so  moderate  a  price,  not 

Popular         onj    are  tfiQ  volumes  in  this  series  illustrated, 

Literature.  •;  ' 

well  printed,  and  uniformly  bound  in  red,  but 

the  list  of  contributors  includes  such  eminent  names  as  those 

of    Professor    Karolides,    MM.  Bikelas,  Anninos,  Meliarakes, 

Drosines,  and  other  literary  men  of  the  highest  standing, 

together  with  those  of  specialists  in  their  various  departments. 

Certain  volumes  have  been  largely  bought  by  the  Ministry  of 

Marine  for  distribution  in  the  navy,  and  by  the  War  Office  for 

distribution  in  the  army  ;  the  Duties  of  a  Citizen  was,  on  its 

appearance,  ordered  by  the  Ministry  of  Education  to  be  made  a 

school  reader  ;    and  one  of  the  most  successful  hitherto  is 

entitled  Our  Church,  an  ably-written  little  work,  in  which  the 

origin  and  meaning  of  all  the  services,  fasts,  feasts,  and  sacred 

objects  of  the  Orthodox  Church  are  described  and  explained. 

Other  booklets  in  this  series  deal  with  such  subjects  as  the 

Forests  question  in  Greece,  natural  history — "  Birds  "    and 

"  Bees,"  for  instance,  by  M.  Drosines,  and  foreign  countries, 

together  with  abridgments  of  such  classics  as  Plutarch's  Lives. 

Some  volumes  of  a  Children's  Library  have  also  been  issued 

by  the  same  society  ;  and  the  less  educated  reader  is  catered  for 

by  the  "  People's  Library,"  issued  by  the  enterprising  publisher, 

M.   Konstantinides,  at  prices  ranging  from  a  halfpenny  to 

twopence. 

In  the  realm  of  fiction  no  work  of  special  eminence  has  yet 

appeared  in  modern  Greek.     M.  Rhangabes,  the  distinguished 

diplomatist  and  man  of  letters,  wrote  both 

t,.  ,.  novels   and   memoirs.     The   late   M.    Roides 

Fiction.  ..... 

produced  some  years  ago  an  historical  novel, 

Pope  Joan,  which  has  had  a  certain  vogue.  M.  Drosines  is,  per- 
haps, best  known  in  this  country  by  his  short  novel  translated 
under  the  title  of  The  Herb  of  Love,  and  M.  Bikelas  by  his 
Loukes  Ldras,  which  has  been  published  in  no  fewer  than  five 
European  languages.     So  far,  however,  the  medium  of  the 


Literature  and  Art  81 

short  story  has  been  chiefly  adopted  by  Greek  fictionists,  and 
among  the  best  writers  of  this  class  may  be  mentioned,  in 
addition  to  the  above-named,  M.  Episkop6poulos,  author  of  a 
volume  of  Tales  of  Eventide;  "  Elevtheris  Arghyriotis," 1 
a  translated  collection  of  whose  charming  Tales  from,  the  Greek 
Islands  was,  a  few  years  ago,  published  in  this  country,  and 
MM.  Moriatides  and  Papadiamantes,  whose  stories  are  redolent 
of  the  soil  and  air  of  Hellas.  Of  the  last-mentioned  author, 
who  passed  away  in  his  native  isle  of  Sciathos  in  1911,  it  has 
been  said  that  his  literary  individuality  was  more  imposing 
than  that  of  any  other  modern  Greek  writer  of  fiction.  At 
once  idealistic  and  realistic,  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  who 
have  introduced  pure  narrative  in  a  setting  of  present-day 
Greek  life  and  folk  custom. 

Among  the  earlier  poets  of  Modern  Greece  were  Julius 
Typaldos,  Solomos,  author  of  the  famous  Hymn  to  Liberty, 
who  died  in  1857,  and  Valaorites,  the  bard  of  the  Greek 
Revolution,  whose  beautiful  poems  in  the  Epirote  dialect 
have  been  characterised  as  "  works  of  the  highest  genius  "  ; 
while  among  later  writers  of  verse  may  be  instanced  Alexander 
Rhangabes,  Demetrios  Bikelas,  Augustos  Vlachos,  Spiridion 
Lambros,  Kostas  Palamas,  George  Vizyenos,  Drosines  and 
Valvis.  A  goodly  number  at  the  present  day  also  woo  the 
poetic  muse,  but  among  them  do  not  appear  any  names  of 
special  pre-eminence. 

Of  Greek  women  writers,  Madame  Kallirrhoe  Parren  may 
be  said  to  be  the  most  eminent,  as  she  is  not  only  a  favourite 

author  of  works  of  fiction,  but  also  the  editor 
Writer"         °*  a  Peri°dical  called  The  Ladies'  Newspaper, 

the  contributors  to  which  are  all  women.    Her 
novels  include  a  trilogy  called  "  Books  of  the  Dawn,"  which 
comprises     The    Freedwoman,    The    Witch,    and    The 
Contract,  all  written  in  the  "  pure  "  form  of  modern  Greek  ; 
and  among    Madame    Parren's  other  publications  may  be 

1  The  writer  under  this  pseudonym,  who  prefers  to  remain  anony- 
mous, has  long  been  resident  in  England. 

6— (2385) 


82  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

mentioned  two  volumes  of "  Impressions,"  entitled  respectively 
My  Journeys,  and  A  Year's  Life,  together  with  her  studies 
on  the  condition  of  women  at  various  periods  of  the  world's 
history.  Another  Greek  lady,  Mrs.  Kenneth  Brown — nee 
Mdlle.  Demetra  Vaka — who  was  educated  at  Constantinople, 
and  is  reputed  an  authority  on  the  woman  question  in  Turkey, 
has  recently  published  in  English  some  interesting  studies  of 
Turkish  life,  entitled  respectively — In  the  Shadow  of  Islam,  and 
Pages  from  the  Life  of  Turkish  Women.  But  notwithstanding 
the  high  level  of  culture  which  has  for  many  years  past  obtained 
among  the  favoured  few  in  the  three  great  Greek  literary 
centres  of  the  Levant — Athens,  Constantinople,  and  Smyrna 
— women  writers  are  as  yet  but  very  limited  in  number  ;  and 
in  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  contributions  by  women 
to  the  literature  of  modern  Greece,  there  is  little  worthy  of 
mention  beyond  a  few  minor  educational  treatises,  some 
translations  of  foreign  works,  chiefly  fiction,  and  certain 
articles  in  periodical  publications. 

Modern  Greek  dramatic  works  appear  to  consist  much  more 
largely  of  plays  based  on  classical  and  mediaeval  subjects  than 
of  those  dealing  with  contemporary  social  life.  In  the  first 
rank  of  historical  dramatists  must  be  placed  M.  Ber- 
nadakis,  whose  plays  deal  with  various  periods  of  Hellenic 
history.  Among  these  may  be  instanced  his  Merope,  which 
has  a  classical  setting  ;  his  Nikephoros  Phokas,  illustrating 
the  exploits  of  the  tenth  century  Byzantine  general  who 
recovered  Crete  from  the  Saracens,  and  ultimately  ascended 
the  Imperial  throne ;  his  Maria  Doxapatre,  a  drama  dealing 
with  the  French  conquest  of  the  Morea,  in  which  Geoffrey  de 
Villehardouin  and  Guillaume  de  Champlitte  are  prominent 
characters,  the  heroine  being  the  daughter  of  a  Greek  archon 
of  Arkadia,  while  his  tragedy  of  Euphrosyne  belongs  to  the 
early  eighteenth  century,  being  founded  on  the  romantic 
story  of  the  relations  of  a  beautiful  Greek  of  that  name  with 
Moukhtar  Bey,  a  son  of  the  Tyrant  of  Ioannina,  "  Vizier 
Ali,"  who  caused  Phrosyne  and  seventeen  other  women  to 


Literature  and  Art  83 

be  drowned  in  the  lake. *  Greek  dramatists  generally  have, 
however,  hitherto  occupied  themselves  rather  with  the  transla- 
tion and  adaptation  of  classical  dramas  than  with  original 
work.  Antigone,  (Edipus  Tyr annus  and  the  Orestia  of 
Sophocles  have  been  rendered  into  modern  Greek  as  has  also 
Goethe's  Iphigenia  in  Tauris  ;  the  late  M.  Bikelas  had  the 
courage  to  translate  some  of  Shakespeare's  plays  ;  and  Ibsen 
in  Greek  has  been  represented  on  the  Athenian  stage,  where 
translations  of  French  plays  are  also  frequently  given. 

Greece  possesses  also  her  Schools  of  Art,  and  already  claims 
to  have  among  her  sons  a  number  of  painters  and  sculptors  of 
high  merit.  Among  the  most  eminent  genre  and  portrait 
painters  may  be  mentioned  MM.  Gyzes,  Roiilos,  Kontopoulos, 
Oikonomos,  Phrixos  and  Jacovidhes,  the  last-named  occupying 
the  post  of  Director  of  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Athens. 
Landscapists  and  seascapists  are  also  fairly  numerous,  the 
most  highly  reputed  of  the  former  being  M.  Phokas,  M.  Hadjo- 
poulos,  and  Mdlle.  Laskaridou,  and  of  the  latter  M.  Hadjes 
and  M.  Prosalendes.  Among  water-colourists  of  note  may  be 
named  MM.  Bokatsiaves,  Hadjopoulos  and  Giallenas,  all 
three  natives  of  the  island  of  Corfu.  The  artistic  profes- 
sion in  Greece  also  includes  in  its  ranks  in  addition  to  the 
talented  lady  above  named  a  number  of  women  who  send  some 

1  The  poet  Valaoritis  has  also  made  this  story  the  subject  of  a  fine 
dramatic  poem  ;  and  the  tragic  fate  of  Kyra  'PhrosyVie — which  caused 
her  sins  to  be  forgiven  and  transformed  her  into  a  heroine  and  martyr — 
is  described  in  many  a  folk-ballad.  One  of  these,  belonging  to  the 
lake-girt  city  of  Ioannina,  concludes  as  follows — 

"  But  neither  golden  coins,  nor  tears,  can  move  the  Vizier's  mood  ; 
And  thou  and  seventeen  more  fair  dames  must  be  for  fishes'  food. 
"Ah,   Phrosyne,  partridge  mine, 
Evil  weird  to  dru  is  thine .' 

"  A  thousand  measures  in  the  lake  will  I  of  sugar  throw  ; 
The  water  to  Phros>'ne's  lips  will  then  be  sweet,  I  trow. 
"Ah,  Phros  fne,  far  renowned, 
Famed  in  alt  the  world  around  I 

"  Blow  fiercely,  bitter  Boreas,  blow,  and  make  the  waters  roar 
And  surge,  and  cast  Phrosyne  with  those  ladies  on  the  shore. 
'Ah,   Phrosfne,  partridge  mine, 
Burns  my  heart  this  fate  of  thine !  " 


84  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

very  creditable  work  to  the  exhibitions  held  of  late  years  in 
the  capital.  Among  the  half-dozen  or  more  sculptors  of 
standing — most  of  whom  come  from  the  ^Egean  island  of 
Tenos — may  be  mentioned  M.  Philippotis  and  M.  Sochos, 
whose  fine  statue  of  the  great  patriot  and  hero,  Kolokotrones, 
has  been  acquired  by  the  nation  and  stands  in  the  square  near 
the  Greek  Parliament  House. 

As  elsewhere  mentioned,  the  Archaeological  Society  of 
Greece  derives  a  considerable  portion  of  its  revenues  from  the 
State  Lottery,  instituted  in  1874.  This  Society,  which  was 
originally  founded  early  in  the  reign  of  King  Otho,  forms 
a  department  under  the  control  of  the  Ministry  of  Education 
and  of  a  Director  styled  "  General  Ephor  of  the  Antiquities," 
has  for  its  object  the  preservation  of  classical  monuments  and 
the  excavation  of  buried  archaeological  treasures.  In 
connection  with  this  department,  which  is  regarded  by  the 
Greeks  generally  as  an  integral  part  of  their  national  existence, 
has  been  founded  the  important  National  Museum  of  Athens, 
an  imposing  edifice  replete  with  classic  treasures.  Among 
other  important  enterprises,  the  Greek  Archaeological  Society 
has  instituted  excavations  in  many  different  localities  ;  taken 
measures  for  the  preservation  of  the  classic  monuments  of 
the  kingdom  ;  and  restored  a  number  of  important  Byzantine 
and  Mediaeval  edifices  which  were  falling  into  ruin.  It  has 
also  founded  museums  at  Chalkis,  Thebes  and  Delos  ;  while 
every  provincial  town  and  every  village  of  any  importance 
has  now  also  its  little  local  collection  of  the  archaeological 
remains  unearthed  in  its  neighbourhood.  All  these  museums 
may  be  visited  free  of  charge.  For,  unlike  Italy,  Greece  scorns 
to  accept  money  in  return  for  the  privilege  of  inspecting  her 
national  treasure-houses,  and  their  custodians,  many  of  whom 
are  University  graduates,  will  invariably  be  found  well  informed 
with  regard  to  their  contents  as  well  as  courteous  and  obliging 
to  visitors.  The  Society  issues  a  periodical — the  Archceological 
Journal,  and  also  publishes  an  Annual  Report  of  its  work. 

Foreigners  having  also  been  encouraged  to  aid  the  Greeks 


Literature  and  Art  85 

in  the  work  of  discovery  of  its  buried  treasures,  there  are 
now  at  Athens  no  fewer  than  four  Schools  of  Archaeology 
belonging  to  other  nations.  Of  these,  the  oldest  is  the 
French  School,  founded  in  1846,  which  occupies  a  palatial 
building  and  receives  Belgian  and  Dutch  students  as  well 
as  those  of  French  nationality.  This  school  has  accomplished 
most  important  work  in  excavating  the  sites  of  Delphi  and 
Delos,  besides  operations  in  other  localities.  The  German 
School,  founded  in  1874,  has  also  largely  contributed  to 
the  archaeological  discoveries  of  recent  years  in  Greece, 
especially  those  at  Olympia  on  which  a  sum  of  no  less  than 
£40,000  has  been  spent.  The  American  School,  which  dates 
back  to  1881  and  is  generously  supported  by  the  various 
Universities  and  Colleges  of  the  United  States,  has  also 
excavated  at  Corinth,  Eretria,  Heroeum,  etc.  And  the 
British  School — the  latest  established  of  all — has  done  good 
work  in  various  parts  of  the  Greek  mainland,  as  well  as  in 
Crete  and  other  islands. 

Athens  now  possesses  an  "Academy  of  Science,"  presented 
to  the  city  by  the  late  Baron  Sina  of  Vienna.  It  is  built 
entirely  of  Pentelic  marble,  profusely  and  tastefully  adorned 
with  sculptures,  paintings  and  gilding,  illustrative  of  the 
purpose  of  the  building.  The  capital  is  also  well  supplied  with 
libraries,  the  Boule  or  Chamber  of  Deputies  possessing  one 
well  supplied  with  literature  on  every  subject  connected  with 
the  country,  while  the  National  Library,  founded  by  the 
munificence  of  the  Brothers  Vagliano  of  Kephallenia,  is  also 
well  equipped. 

Among  the  learned  societies  of  the  Greek  capital,  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  perhaps  also  most  important  is  the 
"  Historical  and  Ethnographical  Society,"  founded  in  1883, 
which  has  for  its  objects  the  study  of  mediaeval  and  modern 
Greek  history  and  folk-lore.  The  many  interesting  exhibits 
of  this  Society  comprise  a  collection  of  portraits  which  most 
strikingly  illustrate  the  story  of  the  long  struggle  of  the 
Greeks    for    national    liberty.     Here,   in  their  costumes  of  a 


86  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

century  ago,  are  the  Klephts  and  Armatoles  of  the  mountain 
passes,  the  sea-captains  and  privateers  who  so  valiantly 
attacked  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleets,  together  with 
the  famous  leaders  whose  names  have  become  household 
words  in  every  province  of  Hellas — Kolokotrones,  whose 
helmet  is  also  here  preserved,  Rhigas  Pherraios,  Markos 
Botsaris  and  many  others. 

A  Greek  Folk-lore  Society  was  also  founded  a  few  years 
ago  for  the  study  of  the  manners,  customs  and  folk  literature 
of  the  Greek  and  other  races  inhabiting  the  Hellenic  Kingdom. 
It  has  a  considerable  membership,  and  has  already 
accomplished  some  valuable  and  interesting  work. 

A  literary  society,  known  as  the  "  Parnassos,"  forms  a 
great  centre  for  the  cultured  classes  of  Athens.  It  possesses 
a  fine  and  spacious  lecture  hall  and  reading  room,  and  the 
various  interesting  lectures  here  delivered  by  the  most 
eminent  literary  and  scientific  men  of  the  city  are  largely 
attended  by  the  elite  of  Athenian  Society,  as  also  not  un 
frequently  by  members  of  the  Royal  Family.  The  Greeks, 
like  their  neighbours  the  Italians,  are  endowed  with  fluent 
tongues,  and  consequently  make  good  lecturers,  and  members 
of  this  nation  generally  are  very  fond  of  listening  to  a  good 
parddhosis  or  discourse. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    CHURCH   AND   THE   CLERGY 

The  essential  points  in  which  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church 
differs  from  the  Roman  Catholic  are  (1)  the  Holy  Ghost 
being  held  to  proceed  from  the  Father  only  ;  (2)  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Eucharist  in  both  kinds  to  the  laity ; 
(3)  and  the  substitution  of  sacred  pictures  for  images  of  the 
Virgin  and  Saints.  The  Sacraments  in  the  Eastern,  as  in  the 
Western  Church  are  seven,  and  celibacy  is  required  of  the 
higher  clergy.  The  Eastern  Church  is  exceedingly  tolerant, 
in  theory  at  least,  and  proselytism  is  forbidden  by  the  first 
article  of  the  Greek  Constitution.  Yet  the  Greeks  generally 
appropriate  to  themselves  exclusively  the  name  of 
"  Christian,"  refusing  it  not  only  to  Protestants  and  Roman 
Catholics  but  also  to  members  of  the  Bulgarian  Church,  whom 
they  regard  as  schismatics  and  barbarians,  though  the  creed 
of  the  latter  coincides  in  all  particulars  with  their  own. 
Among  the  educated  classes,  however,  neither  men  nor 
women  are  fanatical,  and  such  externals  of  religion  as  fasting 
are  little  observed. 

Previous  to  the  creation  of  the  Greek  kingdom,  the  headship 

of  the  Greek  Church  was  vested  in  the  (Ecumenical  Patriarch 

of  Constantinople,  who  was  at  the  same  time 

The  the    political    representative    of    the    Greek 

Patriarch.       nationality   generally,    as   he   still   continues 

to  be  of  all  Greeks  resident  within  the  Ottoman 

dominions.     With  the  internal  Government  of  the  Eastern 

Church  in  the  Hellenic  kingdom  the  (Ecumenical  Patriarch 

has,  however,  now  no  concern,  though  in  recognition  of  the 

close  union  between  its  two  divisions  he  still  sends  to  the 

Metropolitan  of  Athens  the  holy  oil  consecrated  with  great 

solemnity  on  Maundy  Thursday,  and  still  continues  to  be 

referred  to  in  all  questions  of  doctrine. 

87 


88  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

The  State  Church  is  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Ministry  of 
Education  and  Ecclesiastical  affairs,  the  organisation  of 
control  being  vested  in  the  Holy  Synod, 
Tgen^°ly  an  Ecclesiastical  Council  consisting  of  the 
Metropolitan,  or  Archbishop,  of  Athens — 
who  is  ex  officio  its  president, — four  Bishops  and  a  Royal 
Commission  ;  and  for  the  accommodation  of  the  spiritual 
members  of  this  body  five  marble  thrones  stand  in  a  row 
within  the  Sanctuary  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of  the  Capital. 
Ecclesiastical  matters  are  also  dealt  with  by  the  "  Council 
of  the  Holy  Synod,"  composed  of  the  four  bishops  of 
Kephallenia,  Elis,  Messenia,  and  of  Mantinea  and  Kynourie, 
and  of  other  bishops  who  attend  in  rotation,  the  deliberations 
of  these  ecclesiastics  being  assisted  by  the  Archimandrite  of 
Athens,  two  secretaries  and  two  registrars.  Greece  is  divided 
into  thirty-two  episcopal  sees,  of  which  thirteen  were  formerly 
archbishoprics ;  but  by  a  law  enacted  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century  archiepiscopal  rank  was  abolished  and  all 
sees  are  to  be  placed  on  the  footing  of  bishoprics  on  the  deaths 
of  their  present  representatives. 

The  bishops,   who   are   almost  the  only  functionaries  of 

the  Church  paid  by  the  State,  are  appointed  by  the  King  from 

among  three  nominees  of  the  Holy  Synod, 

Treacher"6  and  must  be  over  thirty  years  of  age.  Though 
members  of  the  secular  priesthood  who  are 
widowers  are  eligible  for  episcopal  appointments,  the  bishops 
are,  as  a  rule,  drawn  from  the  Monastic  body.  Their  stipends 
are  exceedingly  moderate,  that  of  the  Metropolitan  being 
only  £240  with  £120  extra  for  his  services  as  president  of  the 
Synod,  the  other  clerical  members  of  which  receive  an  extra 
allowance  of  £96.  The  surviving  archbishops  receive  the 
meagre  salary  of  £200,  and  the  bishops  £160.  The  only  other 
clerics  paid  by  the  State  are  the  so-called  "  Preachers  "  who 
rank  next  to  the  bishops,  and  receive  a  stipend  of  £8  a  month, 
their  special  function  being  to  pronounce  discourses  in  the 
parish  churches  on  certain  occasions,  notably  during  the  six 


Sibah 


A    GREEK    PATRIARCH 


ntinoplt 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  89 

weeks  of  Lent,  the  secular  priesthood,  as  will  presently  appear, 
being  usually  incapable  of  performing  this  duty. 

Attached  to  each  diocese  is  an  episcopal  court  for  the  trial 
of  priests  accused  of  transgressing  the  Canon  Law.  The 
members  of  this  Court  are  five,  including  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  who  presides,  and  deputies  are  appointed  to  take  the 
place  of  any  member  of  the  council  unable  at  any  time  to 
attend  its  sessions.  The  office  of  bishop,  though  deprived 
of  the  political  influence  previously  attached  to  it  under  the 
Turkish  domination,  is  still  regarded  with  great  respect 
by  the  members  of  the  Orthodox  Church  generally,  who 
habitually  address  its  occupant  with  high  sounding  Byzantine 
titles,  and  reverently  kiss  his  hand.  Frequently  men  of  hand- 
some and  venerable  aspect,  long  haired  and  long  bearded,  the 
appearance  of  the  bishops  when  performing  the  elaborate 
ritual  of  their  ancient  church  in  their  gorgeous  and 
symbolic  episcopal  vestments,  their  jewelled  mitres  and  other 
accessories,  is  particularly  imposing.  The  subordinate 
degrees  of  the  Greek  clergy  are  those  of  archimandrite,  priest 
and  deacon.  The  first  belong,  like  the  bishops,  to  the  superior 
and  celibate  order.  Priests  must  be  thirty  years  of  age  when 
ordained,  and  are  required  to  marry,  though  only  once, 
deacons  being  consecrated  at  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
after  having  served  as  sub-deacons  for  a  certain  period  during 
which  they  take  part  in  the  liturgy  of  the  church,  one  of 
their  duties  being  to  read  the  Epistle,  the  Gospel  being  read 
by  the  deacon.  Differences  in  vestments  serve  to  distinguish 
these  various  ranks  of  the  priesthood  during  the  performance 
of  the  ordinary  church  services,  the  surplice  of  a  bishop  having 
wide  short  sleeves  with  the  ends  of  the  stole  hanging  down 
in  front,  that  of  a  priest  one  without  sleeves,  while  a  deacon 
may  be  recognised  by  his  wearing  the  stole  hanging  over  the 
left  shoulder.  The  most  characteristic  part  of  the  dress  of 
the  Greek  clergy  is,  however,  the  tall,  black,  cylindrical  hat 
from  under  which,  during  the  services  of  the  church,  the  long 
hair  waves  over  the  shoulders,  though  in  everyday  life  it  is 


90  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

coiled  in  a  knot  out  of  sight.  Bishops,  archbishops  and 
patriarchs  wear  also  a  black  veil  thrown  over  the  hat,  and 
falling  on  the  shoulders. 

The  higher  clergy  are  drawn  for  the  most  part  from  the 
better  class  of  the  community,  and  are  not  infrequently  men 
of  considerable  attainments  and  ability.  It 
Priests.  would,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  be 
difficult  to  imagine  a  clergy  more  ignorant 
than  the  parish  priests,  of  the  rural  districts  especially. 
Drawn  from  the  same  class  as  his  peasant  parishioners,  enjoying 
no  social  superiority  by  virtue  of  his  priestly  office,  unsalaried, 
and  dependent  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his  often 
numerous  family  on  the  fees  paid  for  christenings,  weddings, 
and  funerals,  house  blessings,  etc.,  and  on  the  "  Easter 
Offerings  "  which  are  oftener  paid  in  kind  than  in  coin,  the 
village  pappas  is,  generally  speaking,  as  rude,  as  uncultured, 
and  not  infrequently  as  poor  as  the  humblest  member  of  his 
flock.  Various  restrictions  are  also  imposed  on  him.  He 
must  not,  for  instance,  add  to  his  means  by  engaging  in 
petty  commerce  ;  nor  may  he  vary  the  monotony  of  his  life 
by  appearing  in  places  of  public  amusement,  a  cup  of  coffee 
and  a  gossip  at  the  village  kafineion  being  the  summit  of  his 
social  pleasures.  He  tills  his  own  little  field  and  garden, 
prunes  his  vines,  and  stores  their  produce  for  winter  con- 
sumption, hospitably  sharing  his  modest  fare  with  the  passing 
stranger,  and  accepting  nothing  in  return.  In  urban  parishes 
the  clergy  are,  however,  on  the  whole,  slightly  better  off, 
and  in  certain  localities — Athens  for  instance — a  priest  may 
enjoy  emoluments  in  coin  and  kind  amounting  to  from  £100 
to  £200  a  year. 

In  former  days  the  great  majority  of  parish  priests  were 
absolutely  illiterate,  having  acquired  their  knowledge  of  the 
Church's  ritual  by  rote  while  serving  as  sub-deacons,  the 
composition  of  sermons  not  being  required  of  them  as  these 
are  only  preached  on  special  occasions  and,  as  above  mentioned, 
by  specially  trained  clerics.     Nor  are  things  yet  greatly,  if  at 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  91 

all,  changed  for  the  better  among  the  country  clergy  ;  and 
considering  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Greek  nation  generally 
for  education  it  appears  extraordinary  that  it  should  continue 
to  tolerate  such  a  state  of  affairs.  Before  attempting  any 
reforms  in  the  church,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  have 
both  an  educated  and  an  endowed  priesthood,  and,  for  these 
purposes  no  funds  are  at  present  available.  It  has  been 
suggested  by  some  modern  minded  Hellenes  that  the  funds  of 
the  wealthier  monasteries  might  be  applied  with  advantage 
to  general  clerical  education.  A  cultured  pappas,  with  no 
fixed  income,  would,  however,  find  himself  quite  out  of  place 
in  a  remote  country  parish  with  only  peasants  for  neighbours 
and  companions  ;  and  until  the  Greek  Government  is  in  a 
position  to  endow  its  national  church,  it  will  probably  do 
little  towards  providing  for  its  secular  clergy  facilities  for 
obtaining  a  sound  theological  education. 

The  inducements  to  enter  the  secular  priesthood  being, 
as  will  have  been  seen,  practically  nil,  it  is  of  little  avail  to 

educate    youths    with    that    special    object. 
Colleges*        Ctf    the    four    ecclesiastical    colleges    which 

formerly  existed  at  Corfu,  Chalkis,  Tripolis 
and  Poros,  not  one  is  now  in  existence  ;  and  for  the  training 
of  the  whole  Greek  priesthood  there  are  only  two  colleges,  the 
Rizareion,  at  Athens,  founded  and  endowed  by  the  brothers 
Rizares  in  1844,  and  a  similar  institution,  of  more  recent 
date,  at  Arta,  in  Northern  Greece.  Less  than  a  hundred 
students  are,  however,  habitually  to  be  found  within  the 
former  exceedingly  well  appointed  and  charmingly  situated 
edifice,  and  of  these  it  is  computed  that,  at  the  most,  only 
about  15  or  20  per  cent,  ultimately  enter  the  ranks  of  the 
priesthood.  The  Rizareion  is  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  best 
training  colleges  in  Greece,  the  curriculum  including,  besides 
theological  subjects,  the  study  of  ancient  and  modern 
languages,  history,  physics,  art,  archaeology  and  ecclesiastical 
music.  The  course  lasts  five  years  corresponding  to  which 
there  are  five  classes,  pupils  being  received  at  the  age  of 


92  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

fifteen  after  passing  through  a  "  Hellenic "  school.  A 
certain  number  of  day  pupils  were  formerly  admitted,  but 
the  students  are  now  all  boarders,  and  may  easily  be  dis- 
tinguished in  the  public  thoroughfares,  or  on  the  Akropolis 
in  charge  of  their  instructors,  by  the  blue  college  initial  on 
their  black  gowns  and  tall  hats,  and  their  hair,  worn  long 
in  priestly  fashion,  but  usually  bunched  up  in  a  knot.  Those 
not  on  the  foundation  pay  a  monthly  sum  of  about  £2  15s. 
which  includes,  besides  board  and  tuition,  clothing  and 
medical  attendance,  holidays  being  optional  in  July  and 
August.  As  foundationers  who  do  not  ultimately  become 
priests  are  required  to  refund  to  the  college  the  money  spent 
on  them  during  their  five  years  of  residence,  the  intentions 
of  the  founders  are  not  altogether  defeated.  Those  students 
who  decide  to  continue  their  preparation  for  the  priesthood 
are,  on  the  completion  of  their  five  years'  training,  passed  on 
to  the  theological  faculty  of  the  National  University.  Many 
of  the  youths  educated  in  this  college  have  come  from  the 
Greek  inhabited  provinces  of  Macedonia  and  Thrace,  as  also 
from  Asia  Minor  where  there  is  a  considerable  Greek  population 
on  the  sea-coasts  and  in  various  localities  of  the  interior. 

Yet  ignorant  though  the  secular  clergy  undoubtedly  are, 

they  enjoy,  as  a  class,  a  high  reputation  for  morality,  and 

have   in   the   past   done   yeoman   service    in 

Conservatism  preserving  the  Greek  nationality  and  religion. 
For  the  peculiar  position  occupied  by  the 
Greeks  during  so  many  centuries,  surrounded  by  a  dominant 
population  alien  alike  in  creed  and  race,  has  caused  them  to 
regard  their  church  as  part  and  parcel  of  their  national 
existence,  and  as  an  illiterate  clergy  naturally  attaches 
greater  importance  to  the  ritual  than  to  the  spiritual  teachings 
of  a  Church,  these  practical  observances  of  religion  con- 
stituted for  this  long  oppressed  people  a  visible  Catechism 
which  has  done  more  towards  keeping  them  faithful  to  the 
Church  of  their  fathers  than  could  have  been  effected  by 
the   most   eloquent   sermons.      These   outward  observances, 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  93 

severely  imposed  and  solemnly  observed,  have  indeed  in- 
variably been  regarded  by  the  vulgar  as  divinely  instituted 
ordinances,  the  neglect  of  which  would  draw  upon  them  the 
wrath  of  God  and  His  Saints  in  this  life  as  well  as  in  the  life 
to  come.  And  whatever  may  be  the  private  convictions  in 
religious  matters  of  cultured  individuals,  the  National  Church 
is  none  the  less  respected  by  them  as  a  time-honoured  institu- 
tion to  which,  as  Greeks,  they  owe  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude. 
And  though  many,  both  among  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  are 
sensible  of  the  inconvenient  length  of  their  liturgies  and  of 
the  absurdity  of  many  of  the  superstitious  beliefs  and 
practices  which  have  become  engrafted  on  their  religion,  they 
fear  to  attempt  reforms,  lest  the  nation  be  weakened  by  the 
schisms  which  would  probably  result/  Even  the  change 
from  the  "  Old  "  to  the  "  New  Style  '  of  reckoning  is  still 
considered  hardly  less  "  hazardous  "  than  it  was  when  Sir 
Paul  Ricaut  wrote  more  than  two  centuries  ago  :  "  Lest 
the  people  observing  their  guides  to  vary  in  the  least  from  their 
ancient,  and  (as  they  imagine)  canonical  profession,  should 
begin  to  suspect  the  truth  of  all,  and  from  a  doubt  dispute 
themselves  into  an  indifference,  and  thence  into  an  entire 
desertion  of  the  Faith."  * 

But  while  this  rigid  conservatism  has  led  the  more  highly 
educated  and  thinking  section  of  the  community  to  discredit 

the  superstitions  in  which  they  have  been 
Churchthe     cradled,    religion   has   come   to   be   regarded 

by  the  people  generally  as  a  system  of  super- 
stitious rites  regarding  times  and  seasons  divided  broadly  into 
periods  of  fasting  and  feasting  ;  and  notwithstanding  that  the 
Greeks,  as  above  mentioned,  consider  themselves"  Christians  " 
par  excellence,  they  have  remained  in  sentiment  as  pagan 
as  were  their  classic  predecessors.  The  fasts  are  indeed  kept 
with  no  less  patience  and  sobriety  than  superstition,  it  being 
accounted  a  greater  sin  to  eat  of  food  forbidden  by  the  Church 
than   to  transgress  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments.     The 

1  Present  State  of  the  Greek  and  Armenian  Churches. 


94  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

rigours  of  Lent  are  prepared  for  by  a  period  of  abstention 
from  flesh  termed  "  Cheese-eating  Week "  during  which 
dairy  produce  forms  the  chief  article  of  diet  for  the  Orthodox. 
Women  and  girls  of  the  lower  orders  during  Lent  subsist 
almost  entirely  on  bread  and  vegetable  food  with  the  result 
that  they  are  usually,  before  the  end  of  the  "  Great  Fast," 

totally    incapacitated    for    work ;     and    to 
Observances      house-mistresses    in    the    Levant,    whether 

"  Orthodox "  or  Heterodox,  this  period — 
with  the  subsequent  Easter  feasting — proves  an  annual 
domestic  trial.  Even  when  seriously  ill,  all  nourishing  food 
will  be  refused,  the  patient  deeming  it  "  better  to  fast  and  die 
than  to  eat  and  sin."  For  no  "  indulgences  "  in  this  respect 
are  granted  by  the  Greek  clergy,  though  if  applied  to  by  a 
doctor  they  will  promise  absolution  to  the  sufferer  for  this 
infringement  of  the  commands  of  the  Church.  The  sick 
are,  however,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  exempted  from  the  strict 
observance  of  these  regulations  with  regard  to  food,  as  are 
also  young  children,  travellers,  and  soldiers  on  campaign,  the 
latter  also  even  in  time  of  peace  being  only  required  to  observe 
the  first  and  last  ten  days  of  the  long  fasts.  As  above 
remarked,  the  educated  and  wealthy  classes  please  themselves 
very  much  in  the  matter  of  abstinence  ;  but  by  the  people 
generally,  and  especially  in  the  country  districts,  fasting  is 
such  an  absolute  rule  that  at  such  times  travellers  often  find 
it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  obtain  anything  beyond  the 
very  unsatisfactory  fare  with  which  the  Orthodox  content 
themselves. 

Lent,  however,  is  not  the  only  long  and  rigorous  fast 
annually  observed  by  the  Greeks.  The  "  Fast  of  the 
Holy  Apostles "  begins  on  the  day  following  "  All  Saints' 
Sunday,"  the  Greek  term  for  the  first  Sunday  after  Pentecost, 
and  lasts  until  the  Feast  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul  ;  the 
fast  of  "  The  Falling  Asleep  of  the  Virgin,"  as  it  is  poetically 
called,  occupies  the  first  fortnight  of  August  ;  the  fourth 
fast  lasting  throughout  the  month  of  Advent  and  terminating 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  95 

with  Christmas  Day — the  "  Feast  of  the  Christ-births." 
Nor  does  even  this  exhaust  the  list,  the  Feast  of  the  Epiphany 
— "  The  Lights,"  as  the  Greeks  term  it — must  be  preceded 
by  a  day  of  abstinence  ;  and  the  commemoration  of  the 
death  of  John  Baptist  (29th  August,  o.s.)  and  "  Holy  Cross 
Day  "  (14th  September)  are  fast  days,  as  are  also  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays  throughout  the  year.  To  those  acquainted  with 
fasting  only  as  practised  in  the  West,  this  periodical  morti- 
fication of  the  flesh  as  understood  by  the  Eastern  Churches 
comes  as  something  of  a  shock.  For  not  only  is  meat 
abstained  from,  but  on  many  days  all  such  possible  substitutes 

as   butter,   eggs,   cheese,   olive-oil,   etc.,   and 
Diefary.        ^sn  a^so  *s  forbidden  save  during  the  fast  of 

Advent,  that  of  the  Holy  Apostles,  on  Palm 
Sunday,1  and  on  Annunciation  Day,  unless  it  falls  in  "  The 
Great  Week,"  as  Passion  week  is  termed  by  the  Greeks. 
The  prohibition  of  fish  is,  however,  interpreted  by  the 
Orthodox  as  applying  only  to  the  vertebrate  varieties,  and 
on  "  fish  "  forbidden  days  they  indulge  freely  in  such  piscatorial 
delicacies  as  sea-urchins  and  ink-fish,  scallops  and  mussels, 
and  even  caviare.  Vegetables — generally  nerd  vrasto,  or  cooked 
in  water  only — constitute  with  bread  the  only  fare  provided  for 
pious  households  on  special  days,  while  on  others  fruit,  olives, 
and  olive-oil,  with  various  cereals,  may  be  indulged  in. 

The  services  of  the   Greek  Church,    with    their   elaborate 
ceremonial,   are   usually   considered   tediously   long   by  the 

uninitiated  visitor  unaware  of  their  historic 

Rdigfous        mtcrest  and  of  the  religious  symbolism  under- 

Symbolisms.      tying  the  many  details  of  their   ritual    and 

its  various  accessories.  The  preparation  of 
the  elements  for  use  in  the  Holy  Communion  is  particularly 

1  On   Palm  Sunday  one   may   hear   juvenile   Hellenes   chanting   a 
rhyme  which  may  be  thus  rendered— 

"  Palm,  Palm,  Palm  Sunday  ! 
Kolio  fish  we  eat  to-day  ; 
But,  when  comes  next  Sunday  round, 
We'll  eat  red-dyed  eggs  so  gay  !  " 


96  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

replete  with  symbolism.  The  Bread  bears  a  circular  im- 
pression within  which  is  a  Greek  cross,  the  upright  divided 
into  three  equal  parts  in  each  of  which  are  inscribed  in  four 
smaller  squares,  IS,  X£,  NI,  KA,  signifying  'Irjaovi  xpto-Tos 
viKa — "  Jesus  Christ  Conquers."  The  right  arm  of  the  Cross 
contains  nine  triangles,  symbolical  of  the  nine  orders  of 
Saints,   and  the  left  a  single  triangle  denoting  the  Virgin. 


Diagram  of  the  Sacred  Bread 

The  central  square,  which  is  called  "  the  Lamb,"  represents 
the  Saviour,  and  is  hrst  removed  on  the  bread  being  cut, 
when  the  priest,  in  memory  of  the  piercing  of  His  side,  makes 
an  incision  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  it  bearing  the 
letters  NI.  The  large  triangles  are  then  cut  off  and  placed 
on  the  paten  beside  the  "  Lamb  "  in  honour  of  the  Panaghia, 
the  nine  small  triangles  being  next  severed  one  by  one  and 
placed  beside  it  as  a  reminder  to  these  august  personages 
that  their  mediation  is  desired  on  behalf  of  the  worshippers 
present.  The  remaining  sections  are  finally  placed  under 
the  rest  and  represent  "  the  quick  and  the  dead."  The 
Knife  (called  \6yxv~  "  lance  ")  used  for  cutting  the  sacred 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  97 

loaf  is  in  the  form  of  a  lance-head  ;  by  the  paten  the  Manger 
is  symbolised  ;  the  four-barred  frame  supporting  the  paten- 
vcil,  which  is  termed  the  "  asterisk  "  {do-re  pia/cos),  recalls 
the  Star  in  the  East ;  the  larger  veil  (drip)  which  covers  both 
paten  and  cup  representing  the  "linen  cloth"  brought  by 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  as  a  shroud  for  the  dead  Saviour.  Sym- 
bolic also  are  the  curious  emblems  carried  in  the  church 
processions,  namely,  the  six-winged  angels,  the  "  Sleepless 
Lamb,"  signifying  the  Light  of  the  Lord  who  is  the  Light  of 
the  World,  together  with  the  SUepov  and  rpUepov— the  double 
and  triple  wax  tapers  used  during  the  benediction  which 
represent  respectively  the  Trinity  and  the  dual  nature  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  public   services   of  the   Greek   Orthodox   Church   as 

performed  on  great  occasions  are  even  more  magnificent  than 

those   of   Rome,    the   splendid    language    in 

Services.        which  its  liturgies  have  been  composed  being 

peculiarly    impressive    when    well   rendered. 

Of  these  Liturgies  there  are  no  fewer  than  four — (1)  the 

"  Liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom  "  commonly  used  for  Sundays 

and  Saints'  Days  ;    (2)  that  of  St.  Basil  the  Great,  of  which 

the  former  is  an  abridgment,  used    only  on    ten  occasions 

during  the  year— namely,  Christmas  Eve,  New  Year's  Day, 

Epiphany,   on   five  Sundays  in   Lent,   and    Thursday    and 

Saturday  in   Holy  Week  ;    (3)   the  lengthy  Liturgy  of  St. 

James  appropriated  to  the  feast  of  that  Saint,  but  rarely  used  ; 

while  a  fourth,  termed  the  "  Liturgy  of  the  Pre-Sanctified," 

is  reserved  for  certain  days  in  Lent  and  Holy  Week. 

The  Liturgy  is  still  divided,  according  to  ancient  usage, 

into  two  parts,  that  "  of  the  catechumens,"   and  that  of 

G  "  the    faithful."     The    narthex,    where    the 

Liturgies.        former  used  to  stand,  still  forms  part  of  a 

Greek  church,  and  at  the  moment  when  the 

consecrited  elements  are  unveiled,  the  deacon  cries  aloud  as 

of  old,  "  The  doors,  the  doors  !  "  a  survival  of  the  warning 

to  the  door-keepers  to  keep  members  of  that  class  within  the 

7—12385) 


98  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

prescribed  limits.  The  hymns  and  services  for  all  the  mov- 
able feasts  depending  on  the  date  of  Easter  are  contained 
in  two  separate  books  called  respectively  the  Triodi  and  the 
Pentekostarion,  the  first  of  which  comes  into  use  on  the 
tenth  Sunday  before  Easter — the  "  Sunday  of  the  Publican 
and  the  Pharisee,"  so  termed  from  the  subject  of  the  day's 
Gospel.  On  that  day  "  The  Triodi  opens,"  in  popular  par- 
lance, and  continues  in  use  until  Easter  has  been  celebrated, 
when  it  is  replaced  by  the  Pentikostarion  containing  the 
services  appointed  for  TrinLy  Sunday. 

Long  as  are  the  services  of  the  Greek  Church,  the  con- 
gregation invariably  stand  throughout,  as  no  seats  are  pro- 
vided, even  the  stalls  having  supports  for  the  arms  only. 
The  same  posture  is  also  adopted  for  private  devotions  by 
the  Orthodox,  who  repeat  their  morning  and  evening  prayers 
standing  before  an  eikon  of  the  Virgin.  Every  Greek  dwelling, 
however  humble,  will  possess  at  least  one  such  holy  picture, 
and  side  by  side  with  it  will  usually  be  hung  another  of  the 
patron  saint  of  the  household,  a  tiny  oil  lamp  being  kept 
continually  burning  before  each. 

Women   occupy   but   a   subordinate   place   in   the   Greek 

churches,  being  relegated  in  city  churches  to  the  side  aisles, 

and  in  the  country  to  a  gallery  termed  the 

Women's       gynaikonites ,    which    is    approached    by    an 

Church!        external  staircase.  x    Nor  is  regular  attendance 

at   the   Sunday   services   required   of   Greek 

women,  especially  before  marriage,  girls  as  a  rule  going  to 

Mass  only  on  the  festivals  and  special  occasions  when  it  is 

obligatory  to  partake  of  the  Eucharist.     Elderly  women  are 

the  most  assiduous  church-goers,  as  they  are  less  occupied 

with  housewifely  duties,  and  their  frequent  appearance  out 

1  It  is  recorded  that  St.  Basil,  having  on  one  occasion  detected  a 
woman  making  signs  from  this  gallery  to  an  officiating  deacon  during 
the  celebration  of  Mass,  made  it  a  rule  that  the  easternmost  end  of 
this  gallery,  which  extends  to  the  bema,  or  sacred  enclosure,  should 
thenceforward  be  screened  by  a  curtain. 


/'.  Zepdji 

THE   CHURCH   OF   ST.    GEORGE,    SALONICA 
Once  «  Pagan  Temple,  not  a  M   ique 


The  Church  and  the  Clergy  99 

of  doors  is  not  calculated  to  give  rise  to  gossip.  The  churches 
are,  however,  always  open  on  weekdays,  and  the  younger 
women  may  then  often  be  seen  making  their  metanoia  or 
obeisances  before  the  "  Holy  Gates,"  or  lighting  a  taper  in 
front  of  an  eikon  of  the  Virgin  Mother  or  a  favourite  saint. 


CHAPTER   IX 

MONKS   AND   MONASTERIES 

Greek  monasteries  were  formerly  exceedingly  numerous 
both  in  the  present  dominions  of  the  Hellenic  kingdom  and 
in  all  the  districts  of  the  Ottoman  Empire 
Monasteries  where  Greeks  formed  the  bulk  of  the  popu- 
lation. The  social  and  political  conditions 
which,  during  the  mediaeval  period,  induced  so  many  men  to 
seek  the  security  and  peace  of  the  cloister  had,  however,  in 
the  course  of  the  eighteenth  century  greatly  changed  ;  and 
of  the  593  monasteries  existing  within  the  confines  of  Greece 
on  its  consolidation  as  a  kingdom  in  1833,  no  fewer  than  412 
were  in  the  following  year  formally  dissolved,  a  considerable 
number  of  these  being  found  to  be  entirely  deserted,  while  the 
rest  had  but  few  inmates.  And  so  little  does  the  conventual 
life  seem  to  appeal  to  the  modern  Hellene  of  the  twentieth 
century  that — according  to  the  latest  report  that  has  come  to 
my  notice — the  number  of  monasteries  in  the  Greek  kingdom 
has  now  been  reduced  to  twenty-four,  with  a  population  of 
ess  than  200  monks. 

Of  the  remaining  Greek  monasteries  only  a  few  now  possess 
their  former  wealth  and  importance,  as,  for  instance,  those 
of    Phaneromene    in    Salamis,    Galatake    in 
The  Convent     Euboea,  Pentele  and  Petrake  in  the  Morea, 
Megaspelaion.    and  tne  Convent  of  the  Megaspelaion — the 
"  Great  Cave  " — in  Achaia,  founded  in  the 
thirteenth  century  by  the  Empress  Euphrosyne,  and  com- 
pleted  by   the   Emperor   Constantine    Palaeologos.      As    its 
name  signifies,   this  curious  monastery  is  built  within  the 
opening  of  an  artificially  constructed  cave,  over  100  feet  in 
height  and  nearly  200  in  width,  excavated  in  the  side  of  a 
precipitous  rock  at  an  elevation  of  over  300  feet  from  the 

100 


Monks  and  Monasteries  101 

ground,  and  3,000  feet  above  sea  level.  A  great  wall  pierced 
with  many  windows  forms  the  facade,  and  on  this  are  clustered, 
like    swallows'    nests,    innumerable  enclosed   balconies   and 

t  nrways  hanging  over  the  sheer  precipice.  The  interior 
<>t     this    mediaeval     cloister     consists     of    a    labyrinth     of 

lumbers,  cells  and  corridors,  for  the  most  part  dirty  and 
dilapidated,  and  furnished  in  Oriental  style  with  rugs  and 
cushions  only  ;  while  on  the  walls  hang,  in  addition  to  eikons 
and  holy-water  stoups,  the  antique  muskets,  pistols  and  other 
arms  with  which  the  Brethren  of  the  Great  Cave  successfully 
held  at  bay  the  terrible  "  'Brahim  the  Arab  " — the  Egyptian 
Commander  who,  in  1826,  during  the  Greek  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, laid  siege  to  the  monastery.  The  possessions  of  this 
convent  are  very  considerable,  especially  in  the  province  of 
Elis  where  the  monks  have  large  and  productive  estates, 
the  annual  revenues  from  these  being  estimated  at  not  less 
than  £3,400.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  revenues 
of  Galatake  is  derived  from  the  royalties  paid  by  the  Anglo- 
Greek  Company  who  have,  since  1907,  worked  the  magnesite 
mines  in  its  domains  at  Limni. 

The  once  populous  and  wonderfully  situated  group  known 
the    M' U'ora   or     "Mid-Air"     Monasteries,    in    Western 
(  Thessaly,    were    impoverished    primarily    by 
Monasteries^      tJie  confiscation  of  the  estates  in  Roumania 
which   had   formed  their  chief  support   and 
later  by  the  gradually  diminished,  or  diverted,  contributions 
of  the  pious  laity,  and  have  since  become  year  by  year  less 
numerously,  and  at  the  same  time  more  ignobly  tenanted.    For 
ever  departed  is  that  glory  of  the  past  when  a  prince  sur- 
rendered the  crown  of  empire  to  assume  the  cowl    of   St. 
Basil,  wlun  saints  and  scholars  and  statesmen   were    among 
the  monks  who  occupied  these  hundreds  of  cells,  who  ate  at 
the  long  tables  in  the  pillared  refectories,  sang  in  the  church, 
worked  and  meditated  in  those  gardens,  and  were  favoured 
with  ecstatic  visions  on  the  green  rounded  summit  of  the  pre- 
cipitous rock  on  which  stands  the  great  Mcteoron.  Approached 


102  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

from  the  west  through  the  vineyards  and  mulberry  trees  of 
the  hamlet  of  Kastraki,  there  opens  out  before  the  traveller  a 
wonderful  panoramic  view  of  a  vast  semicircular  range  of 
precipices  and  pinnacles  filled  in  with  innumerable  smaller 
pictures.  About  1,000  feet  above  the  plain  are  the  summits 
of  the  cliffs  on  which  human  ingenuity  has  somehow 
accomplished  the  supernatural  seeming  achievement  of  build- 
ing a  little  city  of  isolated  monasteries.  And  no  less  beautiful 
than  wonderful  is  the  scene.  For  not  only  do  these  precipices 
rise  from  out  of  the  richest  verdure  and  vegetation,  but  in 
their  crevices  trees  and  creepers  root,  and  their  heights,  where 
unoccupied  by  buildings,  are  green  perches  from  which  vultures 
swoop  and  to  which  eagles  soar  with  their  prey.  In  one  of 
the  rocky  nooks  at  the  foot  of  this  irregular  semicircle  of 
precipices  the  village  nestles,  and  so  close  under  the  rocks 
that  its  upper  part,  in  winter,  never  sees  the  sun.  Taking  a 
guide  from  the  hamlet,  one  rides  some  distance  up  the  green 
slopes  amid  this  indescribably  wonderful  scene.  Then,  on 
foot,  a  rocky  winding  path,  bordered  by  brushwood,  overhung 
with  precipice-walls  hundreds  of  feet  high,  and  with  enchanting 
views  at  every  turn,  leads  to  the  rear  of  one  of  the  columnar 
cliffs.  After  a  climb  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  a  rocky  platform 
is  reached,  looking  up  from  which  are  visible,  on  the  summit 
of  a  sheer  precipice  some  300  feet  above,  the  walls  and  towers 
of  the  largest  of  these  Mid-air  Monasteries,  "  the  Meteoron." 
For  the  ascent  one  has  the  choice  of  a  chain  of  ladders 
swinging  against  the  precipice  in  a  stiff  breeze,  and  a  huge  net 

in  which  one  may  be  drawn  up  by  means  of  a 
Meteoron        roPe  an^  windlass.     Choosing  the  latter,  one  is 

presently,  after  a  few  minutes'  giddy  swinging, 
deposited  on  the  floor  of  the  entrance  and  greeted  with  a 
courteous  and  kindly  Kalos  orisate — "  Welcome  !  "  from  the 
Brethren  at  the  windlass.  A  rocky  passage  leads  to  the 
centre  of  the  monastery,  which  is  not  built  on  the  usual  Greek 
plan  of  a  great  square  of  buildings,  but  according  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  site,  which  have  here  resulted  in  a  labyrinthine 


Monks  and  Monasteries  103 

irregularity  possessing  a  charm  and  interest  all  its  own. 
Its  central  edifice  is  the  grand  frescoed  church  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, in  which  is  comprised  a  chapel  built,  in  1388,  by  the 
royal  monk  Joasaph,  who  is  here  represented  in  a  rope- 
girdled  white  robe  and  brown  mantle  recalling  the  monastic 
habit  of  the  Western  rather  than  that  of  the  Eastern  Church. 
Close  by  is  the  vast  pillared  and  domed  refectory  dating  back 
to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  with  the  library 
which  once  boasted  among  its  treasures  precious  manuscripts 
of  St.  Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom.  Snug  and  shady  little  courts 
and  pleasant  garden  nooks  nestle  between  the  various  edifices  ; 
and  from  the  green  rounded  top  of  the  eminence  one  looks 
out  on  the  extraordinary  scene  presented  by  the  columnar 
precipices  around,  once  crowned  by  a  dozen  or  more  great 
convents  of  which  seven  only  survive.  Through  the  opening 
of  the  amphitheatre  is  seen  the  Salembria — the  ancient  Pen- 
eios — winding  through  the  verdant  valley  ;  beyond  it  rise 
the  peaks  of  Pindus  ;  while  on  the  south-east  the  picture 
is  framed  by  the  Othrys  mountains,  and  on  the  north  and 
west  by  the  long  Cambunian  range. 

At  one  period  of  its  history,  the  period  of  its  greatest 
prosperity,  the  rule  of  the  Met6ora  Convent  was  as  strict  as 
that  of  the  "  Holy  Mountain,"  from  which  its  founders  had 
been  expelled,  no  woman  being  permitted  to  approach  it  or  be 
relieved  with  food  by  its  inmates,  even  if  perishing  of  hunger. 
This  strict  rule  fell,  however,  by  degrees  into  disuse  ;  disputes 
and  rivalries  also  arose  between  the  various  convents,  which 
frequently  became  the  scenes  of  grave  disorders  ;  and  from 
these  and  other  causes  resulted  their  gradual  decadence. 

The  great  nucleus  of  monastic  life  in  the  Levant  is,  however, 

still  to  this  day,  as  in  Byzantine  times,  to  be  found  in  the 

_,     „  "  Holy  Mountain,"   the  easternmost   of  the 

Mountain.       three  finger-like  promontories  which  project 

from  Thrace  into  the  ^Egean  Sea,  terminating 

in  the  high  peak  of  Athos  ;    and  it  is  here  that  Orthodox 

Monasticism  as  it   existed  in  mediaeval   days    can  best  be 


104  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

studied.  Tradition  says  that  the  first  convent  was  founded 
here  by  the  Empress  Helen,  mother  of  Constantine  the 
Great ;  while,  under  succeeding  Christian  Emperors,  the 
entire  promontory  was  by  degrees  covered  with  successively 
established  monasteries  and  their  domains  ;  and  the  Holy 
Mountain  ere  long  became  a  famous  place  of  pilgrimage,  a 
kind  of  Holy  Land  for  all  the  "  Orthodox."  Every  national- 
ity professing  the  creed  of  the  Eastern  Church  now  desired 
to  be  represented  on  Mount  Athos  by  a  convent  of  its  own ; 
and  in  addition  to  the  establishments  directly  connected  with 
the  Greek  Church,  the  Servians,  Bulgarians,  and  Russians 
have  also  convents  tenanted  by  monks  of  those  nationalities. 
The  last  mentioned  being  now  very  numerous,  the  Holy 
Mountain  has,  in  consequence,  and  during  the  last  half 
century  more  particularly,  become  a  perfect  hot-bed  of 
political  intrigue. 

By  making  their  submission  to  Mohammed  II  before  his 

conquest  of  Constantinople,  the  monks  obtained  from  that 

Sultan   a   firman   securing  to  them   all   the 

^e^ublic10  Privileges  thev  had  hitherto  enjoyed,  and 
empowering  them  to  form  themselves  into 
the  sort  of  monastic  republic  they  still  constitute.  The 
Holy  Mountain  now  comprises  some  twenty  separate 
monasteries,  the  majority  of  which  possess  dependent 
priories,  skete  or  hermitages,  and  chapels  (exoclesia)  together 
with  a  great  number  of  kelloi  scattered  about  on  the  mountain 
sides,  the  retreats  of  solitary  hermits,  many  of  which  are 
mere  caves  in  the  rocks.  The  rule  followed  in  all  these 
Greek  Monasteries  is  that  instituted  by  St.  Basil,  and  the 
monasteries  fall  into  two  classes,  the  Cenobitic,  in  which  the 
monks  live  in  common  under  an  Abbot,  and  abstain  from 
flesh  all  the  year  round,  and  the  Idiorrythmic,  in  which  the 
convents  are  directed  by  two  or  more  Epitropoi,  or  Presidents, 
and  asceticism  is  less  rigidly  observed. 

Although  the  large  estates  in  the  Peloponnesos  formerly 
belonging   to   the    Greek    monasteries   were   secularised   by 


Monks  and  Monasteries  105 

Count  Capo  d'Istria,  the  first  ruler  of  Greece  after  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Turks,  they  still  possess,  in   addition   to   their 
domains  on  the  mountain,  estates  in  various 

Monastic        p]aces — in    Roumania,    for   instance,    on    the 
Possessions.       ^  » 

neighbouring  Thracian  coastlands,  and  in  the 

opposite  island  of  Thasos  ;  and  the  Muscovite  monastery  of 
Roussiko  is  very  liberally  subsidised  by  the  Russian  govern- 
ment. The  Holy  Fathers  also  add  to  their  conventual  revenues 
by  the  exportation  of  timber  and  other  produce  of  their  woods, 
gardens,  and  orchards ;  and  the  manufacture  and  sale  to 
pilgrims  of  religious  pictures,  rosaries,  and  a  variety  of  objects 
in  wood-carving  constitute  also  a  not  inconsiderable  source  of 
revenue.  Though  women  are  not  infrequently  hospitably 
received  and  entertained  in  the  monasteries  of  Greece  and 
the  Islands,  the  sex  is  absolutely  excluded  not  only  from  the 
convents  of  the  Holy  Mountain,  but  from  the  whole 
peninsula.  And  this  being  the  case,  I  must,  in  order  to  give 
any  adequate  account  of  this  monkish  republic,  make  use  of 
the  notes  placed  at  my  disposal  by  a  friend  who  spent  some 
weeks  among  these  monasteries  and  hermitages. 

"  As  our  little  vessel,  the  Athene,  approached    the  Holy 
Mountain,   more   and  more  clearly   came   into   view,   lying 
The  embosomed    in,     and    overhung    by    green 

Convent  of  forests,  the  white  or  grey  walls  and  towers 
Vatopedion.  0f  castle-like  buildings  of  princely  grandeur, 
the  monasteries  of  Mount  Athos.  Stepping  into  the  dinghy, 
we  were  landed  on  a  mole  from  which  a  broad  paved  approach, 
odoriferous  with  the  blossoms  of  the  orange-orchard,  led  up 
to  the  gate  of  the  great  monastery  of  Vatopedion.  And  I  was 
presently  delivering  my  letters  of  introduction  in  the  marble- 
pillared,  domed  and  frescoed  porch  shading  the  triple-gated, 
fortresslike  entrance,  an  entrance  that  had,  in  bygone  times 
more  than  once  been  assailed — without  letters  of  introduction 
— by  Avars  and  by  Turks.  After  passing  under  these  outer 
towers  and  walls,  I  found  myself  standing  in  a  vast  square 
of    lofty    buildings    enclosing,    besides    umbrageous    trees, 


106  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

numerous  chapels,  and  other  erections.  Up  many  staircases 
and  along  many  corridors  I  was  conducted  to  a  guest-chamber, 
from  the  adjoining  balcony  of  which  I  looked  out  on  a  glitter- 
ing azure  sea,  amid  an  environment  of  gardened  slopes  and 
forested  hills,  in  all  the  unspeakable  beauty  of  an  ^Egean 
May.  My  delighted  survey  was  pleasantly  ended  by  a  visit 
from  one  of  the  Epitropoi,  or  Presidents  ;  and  I  was  again 
conducted  through  a  labyrinth  of  corridors  and  staircases 
to  a  dining-room,  the  walls  of  which  were  decorated  with 
portraits  of  European  royalties.  Small  glasses  of  mastika, 
the  native  spirit,  with  mezaliks — the  customary  Oriental 
appetisers — were  then  served  to  the  heads  of  the  community 
and  myself  as  we  sat  on  the  divan  ;  and  after  an  interval 
of  conversation  we  all  took  our  places  at  a  table  sparkling 
with  silver  and  crystal,  when  I  enjoyed  the  first  meal  worthy 
of  the  name  of  dinner  that  I  had  eaten  for  weeks,  my  theory 
that  cookery  is  one  of  the  tests  of  civilisation  being  confirmed 
by  the  quiet  and  refined  manners  and  conversation  of  my 
hosts.  We  were  waited  on  by  two  serving  monks  ;  and, 
inferior  though  their  position  was,  each  was  addressed  as 
Adeiphe — '  Brother.' 

"  Awaking  early  next  morning  in  the  chamber — large,  car- 
peted, and  divan-bordered,  and  with  portrait-hung  walls — 
to  which  my  belongings  had  been  transferred  on  the  preceding 
evening,  I  was  served  at  intervals  with  preserves  d  la  grecque, 
tea  d  la  russe,  and  coffee  d  la  turque,  while  I  wrote  up  my 
diary  looking  out  on  the  gulf  into  which  the  river  Strymon 
falls,  the  islanded  sea  of  my  late  cruise,  and  the  bay  where 
the  Athene  lay  rocking  on  the  sparkling  waves.  The  greater 
part  of  this,  and  half  the  next  day  were  spent  in  being  shown 

over  the  interior  of  the  monastery  and  its 
Treasures        surrounding     outbuildings,       gardens,      and 

orchards.  The  Catholicon  of  Vatopedion  is 
one  of  the  most  ancient,  and  perhaps  the  most  splendid,  of 
all  the  churches  of  the  Holy  Mountain,  possessing  reliquaries 
which,  like  those  elsewhere  seen,  were  naturally  incomparably 


Monks  and  Monasteries  107 

more  precious  to  me  for  the  value  of  their  material  and  Hi- 
Oneness  of  their  workmanship  than  on  account  of  their 
contents.  Yet  these  contents — a  strip  of  the  Virgin's  Girdle, 
a  piece  of  the  True  Cross,  skulls  of  various  saints,  etc. — had 
dnly  shown  themselves,  as  had  similar  relics  treasured 
in  all  the  other  monasteries,  of  a  truly  miraculous  efficacy 
in  obtaining  for  their  possessors  not  gifts  of  gold  and  jewels 
merely,  but  also  of  lair  broad  lands  all  over  the  islands  and 
mainland.  In  the  great  cloister  between  the  Catholicon's 
western  end  and  the  refectory,  and  amid  odoriferous  orange 
trees,  stands  the  Phiale,  or  baptismal  font,  under  a  dome 
supported  by  a  double  row  of  white  marble  columns.  And 
as  Vatopedion  is  one  of  the  less  communistic  of  the  monas- 
teries, the  wealthier  Fathers — who  are  also  generally  the  more 
learned — have  private  apartments,  with  their  own  private 
libraries  and  pictures  ;  and  these  I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
one  after  another,  being  thence  conducted  to  the  ancient 
library  tower  and  shown  its  priceless  treasures. 

"  Besides  the  wealth  of  gold  and  silversmiths'  and  jewellers' 

work  above  referred  to,  many  valuable  examples  of  Byzantine 

pictorial   art   have   been   preserved   in   these 

Pictortal^Art.  convent  fortresses  of  the  Holy  Mountain. 
Once  seen,  never  to'be  forgotten  are  the 
divine  faces  that  may  authentically  be  attributed  to  that 
oldest  of  Old  Masters,  Manoel  Pans£lenos  of  Thessalonica, 
or  his  pupils,  who  probably  contributed  to  that  revival  of 
the  art  of  Painting  in  Western  Europe  initiated  by  Cimabue 
and  Giotto,  and  who  was  at  all  events  the  founder  of  a  school 
of  painting  which — fallen,  uninventive  and  feeble  though  it 
now  is — has  endured  for  nearly  1,000  years.  Nothing  that 
I  could  recall  of  all  I  had  seen — years  previously  certainly — 
in  the  galleries  and  churches  of  Western  Europe  had  ever 
appeared  to  me  so  divinely,  and  at  the  same  time  humanly 
and  majestically  beautiful  as  his  faces  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin, 
though  one  could  wonder  less  at  these  surprising:  creations 
on  reading  the  exquisitely  beautiful  prayer  of  this  forerunner 


108  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

of  Fra  Angelico,  a  prayer  eloquently  illustrating  the  spirit 
in  which  worked  the  master  artists  and  craftsmen  of 
Christian  monasticism  in  those  early  days  of  faith. 1 

"  In  the  Protaton,  the  chief  church  of  Karyes,  and  probably 
the  oldest  in  all  the  Holy  Mountain,  are  to  be  found,  still 
untouched,  apparently,  save  by  the  hand  of 
Karyes.  time,  these  precious  works  of  Panselenos. 
But  numerous  as  are  here  the  monkish  studios, 
no  even  approximately  adequate  reproduction  of  any  of  his 
divine  types  of  womanhood  were  discoverable.  To 
this  village  of  Karyes  I  had  come  from  Vatopedion  to  pay 
my  respects  to  the  Holy  Synod  whose  members  have  been, 
under  the  Turks,  the  rulers  of  all  the  monastic  communities 
of  Athos.  Very  curious  is  the  aspect  of  the  main  street 
with  its  low  wooden  houses.  The  little  shops  which  border 
it  are  open  in  front  like  those  of  a  Turkish  bazaar,  all  the 
shopkeepers  are  long-haired  and  bearded  monks  in  brown 
habits,  and  their  stock-in-trade  consists  chiefly  of  rosaries, 
spoons  with  elaborately  carved  handles,  and  other  articles 
difficult  to  describe,  engravings  of  the  various  monasteries 
in  extraordinary  perspective,  and  drawn  regardless  of  pro- 
portion. But  neither  in  street  or  shop,  nor  in  the  roads  and 
farms  round  about  was  a  woman,  young  or  old,  to  be  seen,  nor 
indeed  any  animal  of  the  female  gender. 

"  Another  monastery  at  which  I  spent  a  night  very  shortly 

1  "  O  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  God  .  .  .  who  didst  take  a  Body  in 
the  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary  for  the  salvation  of  Mankind  .  .  .  Thou 
who  didst  illume  with  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Divine  Apostle  and  Evangelist 
Luke  that  he  might  represent  the  beauty  of  Thy  most  pure  Mother.  .  . 
Do  Thou  .  .  .  enlighten  and  direct  the  soul  and  heart  and  spirit  of 

Thy  servant  N ;   guide  his  hands  that  he  may  be  enabled  worthily 

and  perfectly  to  represent  Thy  image,  that  of  Thy  most  holy  Mother, 
and  those  of  all  the  Saints,  for  the  glory,  the  joy,  and  the  embellish- 
ment of  Thy  most  holy  Church.  Pardon  the  sins  of  all  those  who  shall 
venerate  these  eikons,  and  of  those  who,  piously  casting  themselves 
on  their  knees  before  them,  shall  render  honour  to  the  models  which 
are  in  Heaven.  Save  them,  I  beseech  thee  .  .  .  through  the  inter- 
cessions of  Thy  most  holy  Mother,  of  the  illustrious  Apostle  and 
Evangelist  St.  Luke,  and  of  all  Thy  Saints.     Amen." 


Monks  and  Monasteries  109 

after  leaving   Karyes  was  that  of   Philotheon,   charmingly 

situated  about  three  miles  inland  and  1,000  feet  above  sea 

level.     I  have  refrained  as  much  as  possible 

Convent  of      from    specjaiiy   noting   the   treasures  of  the 

Philotheon.  r  .         f         _     °  ..     ., 

monasteries,  but   I    must    give    myself    the 

pleasure  of  recalling  an  eikon  of  the  Divine  Mother  on  the 
north-east  pillar  of  the  dome  of  the  Catholicon.  It  is  named 
the  Glykophilousa — the  '  Sweetly  Kissing,'  and  represents 
the  Blessed  Mother  kissing  the  Blessed  Child.  A  fresco 
also  on  the  esonarthex,  or  inner  vestibule,  is  very  significant. 
It  represents  a  monk  nailed  to  a  cross,  while  the  Seven  Deadly 
Sins  shoot  their  arrows  at  him.  '  Create  a  clean  heart  in  me, 
O  God,'  is  the  prayer  inscribed  on  his  breast  ;  and  an  angel 
holds  out  to  him  a  crown  of  glory.  Almost  every  ride  from 
one  hospitable  monastery  to  another  seemed,  indeed,  more 
beautiful  than  the  last,  and  this  was  especially  the  case 
with  the  ride  from  Philotheon  to  the  Lavra,  the  chief  in  rank 
of  all  the  twenty  monasteries  of  the  Holy  Mountain. 

"  Arrived  at  the  grand  pile  of  the  Lavra — Athos  towering 
to  its  highest  peak  immediately  above  it,  and  the  sea  less 

than  a  mile  below — one  of  the  monks  who 
Lavra  welcomed    our    party    in    the    domed    and 

pillared  portico  before  the  great  fortified 
gate,  an  elderly,  rather  tall,  and  spectacled  kaloyeros, 
addressed  me  in  German,  and  I  found  that,  though  a  Greek, 
he  was  a  graduate  of  a  German  University.  What  was  he 
doing  here,  this  scientifically  cultured  Greek,  in  this  remote 
monastery  ?  His  answer  was  simply  '  Gelt  fehlt.'  The 
mere  rumour  of  his  having  studied  and  taught  in  these  great 
universities  was,  it  appeared,  enough  to  draw  suspicion  upon 
him  ;  and  it  was  only  by  excelling  most  of  his  brethren  in  the 
punctilious  performance  of  all  religious  duties  that  he  was 
able  to  live  undisturbed  by  petty  vexations.  And  nowhere 
more  forcibly  than  in  this  thousand-years-old  monastery 
could  one  realise  the  intellectual  darkness  of  that  mediaeval 
period   in    which   it    was   founded,    a   period    during    which 


110  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

ecclesiastics  had  still  power  to  silence  and  persecute,  almost 
to  death,  such  men  as  Roger  Bacon — in  scientific  attainments 
the  greatest  of  all  monks.  It  was  a  sad  price  that  Father  P. 
had  to  pay  for  the  means  of  existence,  though  in  cash  he  paid 
nothing,  as  he  nothing  possessed.  After  a  long  conversation 
on  the  divan,  whence  we  looked  down  over  a  steep  descent  to 
the  old  tower  defending  the  port  of  the  monastery  and  thence 
across  to  Thasos  and  Samothrace,  he  invited  me  to  inspect 
the  treasures  contained  in  the  various  buildings  which  divided 
the  vast  quadrangle  into  picturesque  courts  and  nooks,  trees 
being  everywhere,  and  among  them  grand  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
planted,  tradition  says,  by  the  founder  himself.  Passing 
over  these  treasures,  bibliographic  and  artistic,  I  will  note 
only  once  again  those  divine  faces  of  Panselenos — unequalled 
representations  of  the  Christ  which  drew  me  to  their  con- 
templation on  every  day  of  my  sojourn  within  the  convent 
walls. 

"  For  ten  days  past  I  had  been  constraining  myself  to  see 
and  sympathise  with  all  that  is  best  in  monasticism,  while 
taking  due  account  of  what  is  worst.  Recognising,  however, 
the  incompleteness  as  yet  of  my  study  of  orthodox  monas- 
ticism in  the  monasteries  of  the  Holy  Mountain,  I  resolved 
now  to  devote  a  day  or  two  to  visiting  some  of  the  most 
noteworthy  hermits  in  their  retreats  on  the  heights  of  Athos. 
So,  early  on  a  May  forenoon,  I  left  the  hospitable  Lavra  to 
make  the  ascent  of  the  sublime  peak  that  towers  above  that 
Christian  community,  the  peak  once  sacred  to  the  Nymphs 
and  now  dedicated  to  St.  Anne,  Mother  of  the  Virgin,  and 
hence  called  by  the  Greeks  the  Oeoirpo^rjTep 
TofC  S^TnnT  ~ the  'Grandmother  of  God.'  Never,  I 
thought,  as  I  waited  for  admission  to  the 
skete,  or  hermitage  of  St.  Anne,  had  I  looked  on  a  scene  of 
such  combined  sublimity,  beauty  and  historical  interest  as 
was  presented  by  the  nook  to  which  I  presently  ascended, 
enclosed  as  it  is  between  three  mountain  sides  with  rocks 
and  precipices  rising  from  the  thick  woods  among  which 


Monks  and  Monasteries  111 

nestle  the  kalyvia,  or  huts,  of  some  150  hermit-monks  of  the 
skete,  with  their  terraced  vegetable  gardens,  vine  and  olive 
yards,  orange  and  fig-trees.  Above  towered  the  marble  peak 
of  Athos,  below  stretched  the  blue  sea  with  Pelion  projecting 
in  the  distance  beyond,  while  the  Thessalian  Olympus 
towered,  cloud-girt,  over  the  hills  of  the  opposite  promontory 
of  Longos. 

"  After  rest  and  refreshment  at  the  skete,  a  monk  was,  in 
response  to  my  enquiries,  told  off  to  guide  me  to  the  cave  of 
one  of  the  most  famous  of  the  Hermits  of  St.  Anne.  We 
climbed  up  a  long  ledge  of  rocks  to  a  cleft  bridged  by  a  narrow 
plank,  and  after  crossing  this,  the  path  presently  opened  out 
on  a  little  terrace  before  a  rather  grand  cave  of  which  the 
front  was,  where  necessary,  built  up  with  stones.  By  the 
entrance  stood  the  hermit  habited  in  dark  blue  gown  and 
leathern  belt,  his  head  covered  with  a  black  veil. 

"  Father  Joachim,  as  he  was  now  called,  received  us  with 

profound  humility,  bowing  almost  to  the  rocky  floor,  and 

begged   us   to   enter   his   abode.       Its   only 

Father         furniture  was  a  straw  mat  spread  on  the  very 

Hermit.         uneven  rocky  floor,  a  rude  stool    and    sofra, 

and  a  plank  or  two.     But  about  the  centre 

of  the  back  wall  of  the  cave  were  narrow  cruciform  recesses 

with  an  eikon  of  the  Panaghia  before  which  burned  a  tiny 

lamp.      Twenty    years    previously    the    hermit  had  been  a 

Cretan     Insurgent,    the    famous    Kapitan    Man61is.     While 

in  the  world,  he  told  us,  he  had  desired  to  make  a  great  name 

for  himself.     But  his  family  being  captured  by  the  Turkish 

authorities  and  held  as  hostages,  he  had  surrendered  in  order 

to  save  their  lives,  engaging  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  days  as  a 

kaldyer  on  the  Holy  Mountain  ;   and  the  Turkish  Governor 

had  let  him  go.     Now  family  and  country  were  alike  nothing 

to  him  ;   he  only  desired  that  all  should  be  Christians.     Was 

I,  he  asked  doubtfully,  a  Christian  ?      And  would  I  kiss 

his  eikon  of  the  Panaghia  ?     Calvinistic  though  my  upbringing 

had  been,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  gratify  the  old  hero,  and  my 


112  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Greek  servant  had  the  good  feeling  to  call  himself  '  Con- 
stantine,'  which  name  he  thought  would  sound  more  agreeable 
to  the  old  recluse  than  the  pagan  '  Demosthenes  '  bestowed 
upon  him  by  his  sponsors. 

"  The  readiness  to  suffer  for  the  sake  of  others  which  had 
made  Kapitan  Manolis,  for  his  country's  sake,  an  Insurgent 
leader  was  pathetically  manifest  in  Father  Joachim.  He 
was  often  ill,  he  said,  and  suffered  much.  But  he  had  vowed 
to  the  Panaghia  to  suffer  everything  willingly  for  Her  sake. 
He  had  no  hope  or  desire  but  to  die  in  this  cave  when  it  should 
be  Her  will.  No  fire  ever  warmed  it,  though  the  winter 
nights  were  sharp  in  these  altitudes  ;  but  his  devotions  and 
prostrations  to  the  Panaghia  kept  him  warm.  A  monk 
arriving  from  the  skete  with  a  gift  of  three  loaves  of  bread, 
Father  Joachim  received  him  as  a  direct  messenger  from  the 
Virgin  Mother — '  At  Panaghia,  Panaghia !  '  he  was  con- 
tinually exclaiming.  Bread  and  water  formed  his  usual 
diet  ;  but  a  pot  of  some  simple  native  sweetmeat  had  recently 
been  brought  to  him,  and  of  this  he  hospitably  begged  us  to 
partake.  Tears  rose  to  his  eyes  when  I  deposited  a  small 
coin  on  a  ledge  by  the  eikon  of  the  Virgin  to  buy  oil  for  her 
lamp  ;  when  we  left  he  presented  me  with  leaves  of  sweet 
smelling  wild  herbs  ;  and  his  farewell  was  '  May  the  Grace 
of  God  go  with  you  !  ' 

"  Rejoining  our  mules,  we  proceeded  to  the  monastery  of  St. 
Paul,  where  we  dined  and  slept  ;  and  next  morning,  after 
riding  down  to  the  beach,  Demosthenes  and  I  embarked 
in  a  small  sailing  craft  manned  by  a  couple  of  monks,  and 
having  with  us  as  fellow-passenger  a  hermit  called  Father 
Anatolios,  a  very  silent,  dismal  looking,  and  dirty  ascetic  who 
was  returning  to  his  rocky  hermitage.  Under  grandly  preci- 
pitous sea-cliffs  we  were  rowed,  and  then  through  an  archway 
of  rocks,  where  we  could  make  out,  far  above  us,  at  least  one 
hermitage,  or  rather  hermit-hole,  towards  the  summit  of  the 
cliffs.  Rounding  a  headland  we  contributed  a  loaf  to  the 
alms-begging  basket  suspended  over  the  waves  by  another 


Monks  and  Monasteries  113 

cave-dweller,  a  basket  containing  already  one  or  two  loaves 
and  a  bottle  of  oil.  Presently  we  landed,  and  spreading  our 
rugs  on  the  beach  proceeded  to  prepare  breakfast.  An  octopod, 

together  with   seaweed  and  shell-fish,   were 
Hospitality.      soon   secured ;    but   though  hungry  enough 

not  to  be  dainty,  I  longed  for  tea.  And, 
apparently,  my  urgent  desire  telepathically  affected  a  young 
Russian  hermit  who  had  seen  us  from  his  eyrie  on  the  moun- 
tain-side above,  for  he  came  swiftly  down  to  the  beach, 
introduced  himself  as  Father  Paul,  and  hospitably  begged  us 
to  ascend  and  share  his  breakfast  and  his  samovar.  On  the 
way  up  I  learned  from  him  that  though  still  but  thirty-five, 
he  had  already  been  eleven  years  a  hermit,  and  previously 
a  monk  in  the  Russian  Skete  of  Serai.  It  was  a  charming 
little  mountain  cottage  that  he  conducted  us  to,  with  not  a 
few  books  about,  and  of,  course,  eikons  with  their  attendant 
lamps.  And  on  the  balcony  of  his  sitting-room  we  break- 
fasted in  true  communistic  fashion,  sharing  with  him  our 
molluscs  and  partaking  of  his  hard-boiled  eggs,  cheese,  and 
tea  d  la  russe. 

"  Considerably  refreshed,  I  presently  set  out  again,  and  the 
next  hermit  met  with  chanced  to  be  Father  Daniel,  the 

Pnevmatikos,  or  Confessor,  and  chief  of  the 
Daniel.          Community   of   Hermits,   whose   exceedingly 

dirty  hand  was  most  reverently  kissed  by  all 
the  members  of  our  party  save  myself  and  Demosthenes.  A 
kindly  looking  old  man  of  seventy-eight,  white-bearded, 
malodorous,  and  in  rags,  he  showed  all  the  outward  signs  of 
ascetic  saintliness.  For  twenty-two  years  he  had  lived  the 
hermit  life,  though  previously  Abbot  of  St.  Dionysios,  a 
cenobitic  monastery  next  in  rank  to  that  of  St.  Paul's. 
Further  up  the  steep  slopes  we  then  climbed  to  the  hermitage 
to  which  our  silent  fellow-traveller,  Father  Anatolios,  was 
returning.  It  consisted  of  several  little  rooms  half  in  and  half 
out  of  the  rock — his  '  home,'  and  he  was  almost  as  ascetically 
dirty   as   the   Reverend  Father  Daniel,  melancholy,  ill,  and, 

8— (2385) 


114  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

though  only  forty-eight,  already  aged.  A  native  of  the  Greek 
island  of  Kephallenia,  and  already  twelve  years  a  hermit,  he 
had  first  been  a  monk  at  St.  Paul's,  where  he  had  lately 
been  on  a  visit.  They  had  begged  him  to  remain,  as  he  was 
so  evidently  ill,  but  he  had  refused.  Enquiring  as  to  the 
nature  of  his  malady,  I  offered  to  send  him  some  drugs  from 
my  travelling  case,  but  he  courteously  declined  them,  saying 
'  It  is  better  to  suffer.'  When  he  became  a  hermit  he  had 
written  to  his  family  that  he  was  to  be  accounted  as  one  dead. 
He  cared  for,  and  lived  for  the  other  world  only,  the  present 
was  nothing  to  him.  '  I  desire  suffering,'  he  continued, 
"  and  look  forward  only  to  dying  in  solitude,  and  being  found 
some  time  or  other  by  a  brother  hermit  or  a  monk  of  St. 
Paul's,  who  would  bury  me  in  my  little  garden  with  the 
rites  of  our  Holy  Church." 

"  '  Would  I  care  to  visit  another  and  a  less  lugubrious 
hermit  ?  "  asked  Demosthenes.  '  If  he  can  give  me  a  cup  of 
coffee,  yes.'  '  Malista ! — Certainly,'  was  the  reply.  So 
Excelsior!  and  we  mounted  still  higher,  and  not  this  time 
to  a  dwelling  in  the  rocks  but  to  an  even  more  charming 
cottage  than  that  of  my  Russian  host  of  the  morning,  set 
likewise  amid  cultivated  plots  in  rock-girt  nooks  and  embraced 
by  overclimbing  vines  and  overshadowing  fig-trees.  It 
was  the  '  home  '  of  Father  Sopronios,  a  man  of  forty-five, 
who  had  been  for  eighteen  years  a  recluse,  was  originally 
from  Rodosto  on  the  Coast  of  Marmora,  and  had  a  noble 

Greek  face  to  which  corresponded  an  intelli- 
Sopnmios        gence  incomparably  greater  than  I  had  yet 

met  with  among  these  hermits.  Our  con- 
versation turning  after  a  while  on  hermit  life,  Father  Sopronios, 
having  taken  up  and  opened  a  Greek  Testament,  observed, 
'  Much  is  contained  in  those  words  of  Christ — "  Follow  Me  !  " 
and  at  great  length  he  illustrated  his  argument  that,  however 
much  worldlings  might  object  to,  and  even  scorn  the  hermit- 
life,  '  was  it  not  simply  a  literal  carrying  out  of  this  injunction 
to   follow   Him   who   spent    a  life   vowed   to   poverty    and 


Monks  and  Monasteries  115 

virginity  ?  '  Isaid  little,  but  Demosthenes,  vvh  >  was  an  out- 
and-out  modernist  in  his  ideas,  as  well  as  a  fervent  patriot, 
concluded  his  objections  to  the  hermit's  arguments  by 
asserting  that  the  life  of  the  religious  recluse  was  of  no  use 
to  his  country,  to  Hellas.  Father  Sopronios,  however, 
refused  to  admit  that  he  was  less  of  a  patriot  than  his  pagan 
fellow  Hellene.  '  Think  you,'  he  cried,  '  that  the  prayers, 
unceasing  by  night  and  day,  of  the  hermits  and  monks  of 
this  Holy  Mountain  are  of  no  avail  ?  Those  monks  and 
hermits  fulfil  not  only  a  patriotic  duty  to  their  country, 
but  also  a  philanthropic  work  more  important  perhaps  than 
that  of  any  worldling.  But  for  our  sacred  ^rites  and  our 
intercessions  with  the  Almighty,  the  whole  world  might  be 
destroyed  as  were  the  Cities  of  the  Plain  !  '  It  was  evidently 
time  to  terminate  the  discussion,  so  I  rose,  and,  after  bidding  a 
cordial  farewell  to  the  good  Father,  we  again  set  out. 

"  Of  convents  for  women,  never  very  numerous  in  Greece, 
there  are  but  few  now  in  existence,  and  these  are  tenanted 
chiefly  by  widows  and  elderly  women  deprived  of  family  ties, 
who,  living  according  to  the  Idorrhythmic  rule,  are  supported 
by  their  own  industry,  producing  very  creditable  work  in  the 
way  of  spinning,  weaving  and  embroidery." 


CHAPTER    X 

NATURAL  PRODUCTS   AND  COMMERCE 

Greece  being  essentially  an  agricultural  country,  it  is  in  this 
direction  especially  that  her  future  prosperity  must  be  looked 
for.  As  each  separate  province  or  region 
Products  possesses,  as  elsewhere  remarked,  its  own 
distinctive  features  with  regard  to  geological 
formation  and  geographical  position,  and  hence,  also,  with 
regard  to  soil,  climate,  and  temperature,  the  products  of  the 
Greek  kingdom  are  equally  varied.  In  the  south  and  west, 
in  some  of  the  islands,  and  especially  in  localities  protected 
by  high  mountains  from  the  cold  north  and  north-easterly 
winds,  flourish  all  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  Italy — figs  and 
oranges,  lemons  and  citrons,  grapes  and  peaches,  and  many 
others.  The  oranges  grown  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kalamata 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Koron  are  admitted  to  be  the  finest, 
the  most  juicy  and  fragrant,  of  all  the  thin-skinned  variety 
of  oranges  ;  and  in  that  genial  clime  even  such  a  tropical 
fruit  as  the  banana  can  also  be  sucessfully  grown.  The  cur- 
rant-vine is  cultivated  on  a  very  large  scale  in  the  localities 
best  suited  to  it  ;  the  olive-tree  is  a  source  of  wealth  in  many 
districts  ;  in  others  cotton,  silk,  and  tobacco  are  produced 
in  considerable  quantities ;  while  the  valleys  and  plains 
everywhere  are  covered  with  productive  cornfields. 

The  recently  acquired  province  of  Thessaly,  ceded  to  Greece 
by  Turkey  in  accordance  with  the  conference  of  Constanti- 
nople of  1881,  consists  in  great  part  of  a  wide- 
of6  Thessaly  S   spreading,  treeless  plain,  and  from  an  agri- 
cultural point  of  view  constitutes  one  of  the 
most   important   provinces  of  the  Hellenic  kingdom.     The 
greater  part  of  the  province  is  suitable  for  the  cultivation  of 
valuable  crops,  not  only  of  cereals — though  the  Thessalian 

116 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce         1 1 7 

grain  equals  the  best  produced  in  Europe — but  also  of  tobacco, 
that  grown  in  this  region  being  considered  of  superior  quality 
to  Egyptian.  Almost  in  the  centre  of  the  province  lies  the 
great  Lake  of  Karla,  the  classical  Boibeis,  in  connection  with 
which  the  Greek  Government  has  already  initiated  a  vast 
irrigation  scheme,  the  Chamber  having  already  authorised 
the  expenditure  of  two  millions  sterling  on  this  undertaking  ; 
and  when  this  has  been  carried  out  it  is  confidently  anticipated 
that  Thessaly  will  become  the  great  agricultural  centre  of 
Greece. 

The  Peloponnesos,  as  well  as  the  northern  provinces,  pro- 
duces large  quantities  of  wheat,  the  other  cereals  grown  in 

the  country  comprising  barley,  oats,  rye,  and 
Products  of  the   _    •         ,,     J      ■,     r  r      °   ..        T.   ■         /,%  ,      , 
Peloponnesos.    malze»  the  order  of  rotation  being  (1)  barley, 

(2)  wheat,  (3)  oats.  Wheat  is  generally  sown 
after  the  first  autumn  rains,  or  about  the  end  of  September. 
Barley  is  grown  by  nearly  all  Greek  farmers,  for  not  only  is 
it  considered  a  much  safer  crop  than  wheat  to  cultivate,  as 
it  ripens  in  June,  but  the  yield  is  also  far  greater.  Oats,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  produced  only  in  small  quantities,  and 
for  home  consumption.  A  light  alluvial  soil  is  considered 
most  suitable  for  maize,  considerable  quantities  being  pro- 
duced in  the  district  of  Lamia,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of 
Volo,  where  it  is  grown  in  rotation  with  wheat  or  barley. 

The  grape  appears  to  have  been  cultivated  in  Greece  from 
the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any  record,  historical  or 

mythological,   certain   localities  having  from 
Wines.         ^me  immemorial  been  specially  famed  for  the 

wines  there  produced,  the  sweet  wines  of  the 
islands,  such  as  the  Samian  and  the  Cypriote,  beloved  of  the 
ancients,  having  maintained  their  popularity  throughout  the 
ages.  Wine  grapes  are  now  very  extensively  grown  both 
in  the  mainland  and  in  the  larger  islands,  and  a  variety  of 
wines  manufactured  both  for  home  consumption  and  export. 
Among  the  most  widely-known  and  most  largely  consumed 
of  these  wines  may  be  mentioned  the  red  and  white  "  Solonos," 


118  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

made  from  the  delicious  grapes  grown  on  the  slopes  of  Par- 
nassos  ;  the  "  Dekeleia,"  an  excellent  brand  from  the  royal 
vineyards  at  Tato'i — less  excellent,  however,  report  says, 
since  the  vineyards  have  passed  out  of  the  royal  supervision  ; 
and  "  Tour  la  Reine  "  (locally  pronounced  Tourlaren),  an 
agreeable  light  beverage  from  the  vineyards  of  that  name  near 
Patras.  From  this  locality  comes  also  a  kind  of  port  called 
"  Mavrodaphne,"  manufactured  by  the  German  Achaian 
Wine  Company,  which  also  produces  other  agreeable  varieties 
of  wine.  The  island  of  Kephallenia  has  also  its  special 
vintage,  wine  for  sacerdotal  purposes  being  largely  produced 
and  shipped  by  an  English  firm  established  there  for  nearly 
a  century.  Volcanic  Santorin  also  produces  a  good  vino 
santo,  and  Ithake  is  noted  for  a  wine  of  superior  quality. 
Euboea  has  extensive  vineyards  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Chalkis,  its  chief  town  and  port,  from  which  large  quantities 
of  wine  are  annually  exported.  The  largest  producers  are, 
however,  the  "  Hellenic  Wine  and  Spirits  Company,"  who  are 
associated  with  the  "  Vine  Products  Company,"  an  English 
firm  having  its  headquarters  in  London,  and  has  factories 
equipped  with  up-to-date  machinery  at  Athens,  Tripolis, 
Kalamata,  and  Myloi,  the  Kalamata  brands  of  claret  and  port 
being  much  appreciated,  and  the  bulk  of  the  produce  shipped 
to  France.  Tripolis  produces  a  white  wine  of  champagne 
quality,  which  is  said  to  be  patronised  by  the  royal  family, 
but  is  not  very  generally  appreciated  by  European  connoisseurs. 
As  Greek  wines  in  their  natural  state  do  not  keep  well, 
those  destined  for  home  consumption  are  usually  resinated, 
a  process  which,  though  of  very  ancient  origin,  does  not 
recommend  them  to  a  foreign  palate.  The  resinated  wine  is, 
however,  while  cheaper,  usualty  of  better  quality  than  the 
bottled  wines,  which  are  apt  to  be  alcoholic,  and  bear  trans- 
port badly,  and  in  the  country  districts  of  the  Morea  and 
Central  Greece  this  description  is  alone  obtainable.  It  is, 
also,  credited  with  certain  stomachic  qualities,  and  the 
less  strongly  resinated  white  wines  are  drunk  in  preference  to 


Natural  Produd  •  and  Commerce         119 

others  by  those  who  have,  by  dint  of  perseverance,  acquired 
a  taste  for  them. 

Very  considerable  quantities  of  grapes  are  also  converted 
into  raisins,  and  exported,  the  lately  enhanced  price  of  the 
"  sultana  "  variety  having  induced  some  of  the  Cretan  growers 
to  lay  out  new  plantations  with  vines  of  this  seedless  grape, 
the  amber  clusters  of  which  are  delicious  in  their  natural 
state.  It  is  also  from  raisins  that  the  sweet  wines  of  Greece 
are  made,  as,  according  to  legend,  were  all  wines  until  the 
Son  of  Bacchus  acquainted  mortals  with  the  use  of  the  fresh 
grape-juice  for  that  purpose. 

The  cultivation  of  the  currant-grape,  which  now  consti- 
tutes one  of  the  most  important  industries  of  Greece,  is,  with 
few  exceptions,  carried  on  by  peasant  pro- 
TheGrcaurerant     prietors,  of  whom  no  fewer  than  60,000  are 
engaged  in  the  culture  of  this  species  of  vine, 
each  owning  on  an  average  two-and-a-half  acres  of  vineyard. 
The  whole  of  the  work  connected  with  this  industry  is,  in 
its  earlier  stages,  of  necessity    performed  by  hand,  a  vast 
amount  of  labour  being  entailed  in  the  various  operations 
necessary  to  ensure  healthy  vines  and  an  abundant  crop. 
Operations  on  the  land  begin  in  January,  and  last  until  the 
inning  of  August.     First  the  roots  of  the  vines  are  bared 
in  order  to   "  air  "   them,   the  surrounding  soil  being  also 
piled  in  little  heaps  between  the  vines  to  become  oxygenated, 
this  process  occupying  a  couple  of  months  or  so.     In  March 
the  "  eyes  "  begin  to  appear  on  the  vine  stems,  and  as  soon 
as  the  young  green  shoots  have  grown  to  the  length  of  a  foot 
or  so,  the  surrounding  soil  is  again  levelled.     In  May,  after 
the  vines  have  blossomed,  the  elaborate  operation  of  "  ring- 
cutting"  the  stems  is  performed,  which,  by  preventing  the 
from  running  down  to  the  stem,  greatly  enhances  both 
the  size  and  quality  of  the  fruit,  then  already  formed. l   Bare 
■    i  in-,  p  itroduced  within  the  last   half  century,  appeal   , 

however,  to  increase  the  size  oi  the  currants  at  the  expense  c>: 
flavour,  and   trust   which  lias  not  undergone  this  process  is,  for  some 
purposes,  preferred. 


120  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  unsightly  as  the  currant  vineyards  are  in  winter,  as  in 
other  countries  where  the  vines  are  planted  in  similar  fashion, 
these  luxuriant  expanses  of  vivid  yet  tender  green  leaves 
and  swaying,  pole-supported  branches  present,  in  the  clear 
Eastern  atmosphere  and  under  the  brilliant  skies  of  early 
■  June,  a  scene  unequalled,  perhaps,  either  in  Italy,  France, 
or  Spain.  As  the  leaves  grow  larger  and  more  numerous 
with  the  advancing  season,  the  next  process  is  to  thin  the 
foliage  in  order  that  the  sun's  rays  may  now  be  able  to 
penetrate  and  ripen  the  fruit. 

The  vintage  begins  towards  the  end  of  July,  when  the  ripe 
bunches  are  carefully  removed  from  the  vines  with  scissors 

and  placed  in  baskets  which,  when  full,  are 
Vintage30       carried   to   the   drying   grounds,    where    the 

bunches  are  spread  out  on  trays,  all  unripe 
or  overripe  berries  being  removed  from  them  ;  and  here  they 
remain  to  be  dried  by  the  sun  and  wind,  no  chemicals  of  any 
kind  being  used  to  assist  the  process  which  is  usually  com- 
plete in  from  ten  to  twelve  days.  "When  thoroughly  dried, 
the  currants  are  picked  from  their  stalks  and  conveyed  to 
the  various  factories  where  they  undergo  the  further  pro- 
cesses of  cleaning  and  sorting  into  sizes,  and  the  fruit  is  then 
ready  for  market.  It  is,  however,  only  within  the  last  fifteen 
years  that  these  latter  processes  have  preceded  exportation, 
cleaning  factories  having  in  1899  been  established  at  Patras, 
which  has  become  the  chief  centre  of  the  export  trade  in  cur- 
rants. x  There  are  now  at  this  seaport  quite  a  number  of 
these  factories  belonging  to  both  Greek  and  English  firms, 
the  apparatus  at  present  being  of  native  manufacture,  though 
gas  engines  of  British  make  still  supply  the  power.  The 
dry  process  alone  is  employed  in  cleaning  the  fruit,  as  thus 
treated  the  natural  bloom  of  the  currant  is  preserved,  and  it 
also  keeps  in  good  condition  for  a  much  longer  period  than 
would  be  the  case  if  water  were  used.     As  many  women  and 

1  Corinth  is  no  longer,  as  formerly,  the  centre  of  the  currant  trade, 

another  outlet  for  which  is  now  Aigion. 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce         121 

girls  as  men  are  engaged  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  various 
details  connected  with  the  currant  industry,  girls  being  em- 
ployed chiefly  in  the  lighter  branches  of  the  work.  But 
though  there  is  a  ten  hours'  day  for  all,  there  is  a  great  dis- 
parity in  the  wages  earned  respectively  by  the  sexes,  for 
while  the  men  receive  as  much  as  five,  six,  or  even  seven 
drachma  per  day,  women  arc  paid  but  two  drachma,  and 
girls  only  one-and-a-half.  During  the  busier  months  the 
work  is  carried  on  at  high  pressure,  and  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day  shifts,  double  wages  being  paid  to  those  undertaking 
the  former. 

Though  at  the  present  day  exceedingly  prosperous,  the 
currant  industry  has  experienced  many  vicissitudes,  among 
which  vine  diseases  have  not  been  usually  the  most  serious, 
though  during  the  years  between  1851  and  1836  a  disease 
called  oidium  destroyed  the  vineyards  throughout  the  king- 
dom, and  in  1892  the  vines  in  many  districts  were  attacked 
by  a  species  of  white  blight,  called  in  Greece  peronospora, 
which  again  recurred  in  1897  and  1900.  Owing  to  over- 
production and  other  causes,  the  currant-growers  also  found 
themselves  between  1891  and  1894  in  evil  case,  the  lowest 
prices  of  the  century  being  only  obtainable  for  their  produce. 
With  the  object  not  only  of  eliminating  the  surplus  product 
and  of  improving  the  quality  of  the  fruit,  but  also  of  finding 
fresh  markets  and  obtaining  higher  prices  for  it,  there  was 
formed  early  in  the  present  century  a  financial  association 
somewhat  cumbrously  styled  "  The  Privileged 
Company^  Company  to  Protect  the  Production  and  Com- 
merce of  Currants,"  with  a  capital  of  £800,000. 
Steps  were  taken  by  this  society  towards  the  establishing  of 
the  industry  on  a  sounder  basis  than  had  hitherto  been 
attempted  ;  and  although  a  good  deal  of  opposition  was  at 
first  experienced,  it  was  but  short-lived.  This  company  was 
empowered  by  the  Hellenic  Government  to  take  over  from 
the  "  Currants  Bank,"  established  in  1899,  the  rights  of  col- 
lecting in  kind  the  currant  dues  at  the  rate  of  40  per  cent. 


122  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

on  exported  fruit  grown  in  the  Ionian  Islands,  and  of  35  per 
cent,  on  that  produced  in  and  exported  from  other  parts  of 
the  kingdom  against  a  fixed  annual  payment  to  the  Treasury 
of  four  million  drachma;,  or  £160,000.  It  also  undertook  to 
buy  from  the  growers  at  fixed  prices  any  currants  they  might 
offer  for  sale,  and  not  to  re-sell  them  below  certain  stated 
prices — 160  drachma  per  thousand  Venetian  pounds  if  dis- 
posed of  within  the  year  in  which  the  purchase  was  made, 
and  200  drachma  at  any  other  period,  the  Company  being 
bound  under  heavy  penalties  not  to  export  the  residue.  In 
order  consequently  to  convert  this  residue  into  other  articles 
of  commerce,  the  "  Greek  Wine  and  Spirits  Company  "  was 
founded  in  1906,  and  has  been  most  successful,  a  dividend  of 
15  per  cent,  having  five  years  later  been  earned  for  the  share- 
holders. The  Privileged  Company  was  also  required  by  the 
Government  to  provide  storehouse  accommodation  for  at 
least  175,000,000  Venetian  pounds  of  currants,  and  to  store 
therein  free  of  all  charges  whatsoever  any  consignments 
from  growers,  to  whom  80  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  such  con- 
signments should  be  payable  at  an  interest  not  exceeding  6 
per  cent,  per  annum  ;  the  growers  on  their  part  paying  the 
Company  in  return  for  all  these  advantages  seven  drachma 
per  thousand  Venetian  pounds  of  currants  stored. 

With  the  view  of  at  the  same  time  restricting  the  output 
— which,  in  specially  fruitful  years,  greatly  embarrassed  the 

Company — it  had  also  been  made  illegal  to 
Production0     create   new   currant    vineyards ;    and,    as    a 

further  measure  of  precaution,  it  was  subse- 
quently proposed  to  use  for  other  purposes  some  of  the  less 
productive  plantations,  the  grower  being  duly  compensated 
for  loss  thereby  incurred.  A  second  agreement  was,  there- 
fore, in  1909,  entered  into  by  the  Company  and  the  Govern- 
ment, under  which  the  former  was  empowered  to  contract  a 
loan  up  to  £500,000,  secured  by  an  assignment  to  trustees  of 
the  charges  paid  by  the  growers  to  the  Company,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  employed  solely  for  the  compensation  of  such 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce  123 

vineyard-owners  as  would  consent  to  deracinate  all  or  part 
of  their  currant  vines,  the  amount  to  be  fixed  by  private 

ement,  the  owner  to  ask  what  he  pleased,  but  the  Com- 
pany  being  bound  to  pay  him  a  sum  equivalent  to  at  least 
j  13  per  acre.  This  scheme  has  already  resulted  in  the  up- 
rooting  of  over  6,000  acres  of  currant  vines.  But  while  the 
growers  have  done  fairly  well  of  late  years,  the  Company  to 
which  their  increased  prosperity  is  chiefly  due  has  been  less 
successful,  and  may,  indeed,  at  times  be  entitled  to  regard 
itself  rather  as  a  philanthropic  than  a  profit-earning 
institution. 

Of  the  three  and  thirty  different  varieties  of  olive  no  fewer 

than  thirty  are,  it  is  averred,  cultivated  within  the  limits  of 

Greece,   and  the  grey-green  foliage    of    the 

Growing  olive  tree  greets  the  eye  alike  in  the  north 
and  south  of  the  kingdom,  on  island  as  on 
rocky  peninsula,  in  valley  as  on  hillside  ;  and  in  the  opinion 
of  experts  nowhere  is  the  tree  found  in  better  condition 
than  in  Greece,  notwithstanding  the  lack  of  careful  cultivation. 
Corfu  and  Zante,  Kephallenia,  Crete  and  Euboea  also  produce 
in  favourable  years  immense  crops  of  this  edible,  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  which,  prepared  for  table,  are  consumed 
in  the  country  and  exported,  a  much  larger  quantity  being 
converted  into  the  olive  oil  of  commerce,  of  which,  in  a  year 
of  abundance,  over  £500,000  worth  is  exported  from  the 
country  generally,  the  export  tax  levied  on  this  commodity 
forming  an  important  annual  contribution  to  the  national 
exchequer.  Olive  harvests,  however,  vary  greatly,  two  out 
of  five  being,  according  to  approximate  calculation,  good, 
;tnd  two  out  of  seven  exceptionally  abundant.     The  amount 

oil  contained  in  the  fruit  differs,  some  varieties  being 
richer  in  this  respect  than  others  ;  the  soil  and  the  period  and 
method  of  gathering  also  affect  the  yield  of  oil,  a  dry  and 
well-drained  soil  being  mosl  Favourable.  Large  quantities 
are  picked  when  green  for  pickling,  and  the  finer  kinds  of  the 
ripe  fruit  destined  for  table  use  will  be  picked  by  hand  in 


124  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

order  to  avoid  bruising.  The  greater  quantity  are,  however, 
gathered  in  primitive  fashion,  a  cloth  being  spread  on  the 
ground  and  the  olives  beaten  down  into  them  with  long 

switches.     This  harvest   is  not   begun  until 
Harvest.        ^e  autumn,  and  extends  over  many  weeks, 

a  considerable  amount  of  the  labour  connected 
with  it  being  performed  by  the  women  and  children.  In 
Crete  the  gathering  of  the  olive  harvest  is,  indeed,  the  gayest 
time  of  the  year  for  the  women  and  girls,  and  especially  for 
the  latter,  as  the  usual  restraints  imposed  on  maidens  are  at 
that  season  laid  aside,  and  they  enjoy,  in  addition  to  the 
open-air  work,  the  little  social  gatherings  customary  in  the 
evenings.  The  earnings  of  the  harvesters,  which  are  paid  in 
kind,  are,  however,  but  small,  being  only  two-sevenths  of 
the  yield  of  oil  from  the  olives  which  each  one  has  gathered, 
though  in  abundant  seasons,  when  pickers  are  in  great  demand, 
their  earnings  may  amount  to  a  third  of  the  yield.  But  the 
hours  of  labour  are  long,  and  when  carried  on,  as  it  must 
often  be,  in  rainy  weather,  the  work  is  very  fatiguing. 

Greece  has  also  been  found  to  possess  exceptionally  favour- 
able conditions  for  cotton-growing  ;   and  as  the  plant  appears 

to   thrive  wherever  planted,   it   has  always 
Growing.        been    grown    locally    in     small    quantities, 

though  without  much  regard  to  quality.  On 
the  creation,  however,  of  a  Ministry  of  Agriculture  in  1911, 
special  attention  was  directed  to  the  cultivation  of  cotton 
by  the  first  holder  of  the  portfolio  of  this  department, 
M.  Benachi  (a  member  of  the  Alexandria  firm  of  Davies, 
Benachi  &  Co.),  who  had  long  devoted  his  attention  to  the 
promotion  of  cotton  cultivation  in  Egypt.  The  Egyptian 
variety  being  proved  to  be  the  most  suitable  for  the  soil  of 
Hellas,  its  cultivation  was  counselled  and  encouraged  by  the 
Government,  and  the  immediate  results  more  than  surpassed 
all  expectations,  the  samples  sent  to  Egypt  being  pronounced 
equal  to,  and  realising  even  higher  prices  than  the  finest 
cotton  grown  in  that  country.     A  market  for  Greek  cotton 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce        125 

.dso  at  once  found  in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  immedi 
ate  demand  for  cotton  <>i  this  quality  called  for  the  additional 
planting  of  some  5,000  acres  ;  and  it  is  expe  ted  that  250,000 
acres  of  Greek  land  will  very  shortly  be  converted  into  cotton 
plantations,  the  Government  being  prepared  to  guarantee  to 
cultivators  the  fullest  possible  support  in  disposing  of  their 
crops,  and  markets  not  bc-ini;  far  to  seek.  Some  of  these 
plantations  are  on  lands  in  Boiotia,  leased  from  the  Lake 
Copais  Company  who  own  some  60,000  acres  of  reclaimed 
marsh,  let  in  great  part  to  cultivators.1  Others  are  in 
Thessaly,  where  the  best  kinds  of  cotton  are  being  cultivated 
with  great  success.  Cotton  growing  has,  indeed,  from  all 
accounts,  a  great  future  before  it  in  Thessaly,  where  its  culti- 
vation on  a  large  scale  would,  it  is  confidently  anticipated, 
bring  about  important  economic  changes  in  that  essentially 
agricultural  province. 

Tobacco  has  for  many  years  past  been  grown  to  a  consider- 
able extent  in  Greece,  the  soil  in  certain  districts — as,  for 
instance,  Argos,  Agrinion,  Xauplia,  and  parts 
GrwSg        of  Thessaly— being  suitable  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  particular  variety  of  this  plant  ;   and 
>uccessful  experiments  have  also  of  late  years  been  made  by 
the  Agricultural  Society  of  Greece  on  its  large    estates  in 
Phthiotis  with  seed  from  the  famous  tobacco-growing  dis- 
tricts of  Turkey.     The  greater  proportion  of  the  exports  have 
hitherto  gone  to  Egypt,  where  it  has  long  been  largely  used 
in    conjunction    with    Turkish    to    produce    the    well-known 

1  This  enterprising  company  has  carried  out  the  great  drainage 
schemes  inaugurated  by  the  prehistoric  Minyae  at  Orchomenos  and 
completed  by  Alexander  of  Macedon.  Left  to  its  own  devices  during 
many  centuries,  the  lake  had  again  encroached  on  the  surrounding 
country.  In  1883,  however,  drainage  operations  were  again  on  foot, 
and  this  time  by  a  French  company,  the  work  being  finally  achieved 
by  the  present  British  company.  Thousands  of  acres  of  malaria- 
breeding  marshland  have  now  been  converted  into  farmlands  and 
pasturage,  model  farms  have  been  established  under  the  direction  of 
the  company's  agents,  and  a  neighbouring  railway  provides  the  means 
of  transport  for  the  produce  oi  the  district. 


126  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

"  Egyptian  blend."  The  demand  for  Greek  tobacco  is,  how- 
ever, largely  increasing  in  other  directions.  Germany, 
Austria,  and  Italy  have  of  late  years  sent  large  orders,  many 
German  firms  having  permanent  agents  in  the  country  for 
its  purchase,  while  the  poorest  qualities  of  leaf  find  a  ready 
market  in  Holland  and  Belgium,  where  they  are  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  cheap  cigars.  During  the  last  three  years 
Greek  tobacco  has  been  annually  exported  to  the  value  of 
from  £480,000  to  £520,000,  very  considerable  quantities 
being  also  consumed  at  home,  where  it  is  sold  at  a  very  low 
price  and  protected  by  prohibitive  duties  of  180  per  cent, 
on  foreign  tobaccos.  The  leaf  when  gathered  is  purchased 
from  the  various  growers  by  middlemen,  and  by  them  con- 
signed to  a  depot  where  it  is  examined  by  experts  and  sorted 
according  to  quality,  before  being  finally  dried  and  packed. 
The  tobacco  is  cut  in  the  Government  factories  where  the 
tax  of  five  drachma  per  oka 1  on  the  cut  leaf  is  collected,  a 
further  charge  of  forty  leptd  per  oka  being  made  for  the  use 
of  the  machinery,  etc.,  the  cutters  being  allowed  to  employ 
their  own  workmen.  A  tax  is  also  imposed  on  the  paper 
used  for  cigarette  making,  which  is  one  of  the  Government 
monopolies,  this  being  purchased  as  required,  the  cutters 
being  obliged  to  take  as  much  as  should  be  necessary  to  con- 
vert into  cigarettes  the  amount  of  leaf  cut.  But  though  a 
Government  monopoly,  these  cigarettes  are  sold  at  a  moderate 
price,  and  are  pronounced  excellent  by  those  who  have 
acquired  a  taste  for  the  "  mild  "  tobacco  of  Greece — a  taste, 
it  is  said,  only  acquired  in  process  of  time. 

Silkworm  culture  and  the  manufacture  of   silk  tissues  are 
now  receiving  considerable  attention  at  the  hands  of  those 
desirous  of  developing  this  industry,  long  pur- 
Culture.         suec*  m  tne  country  in  somewhat  desultory 
fashion.    A  Sericultural  Society  has,  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  been  doing  useful  work,  and  has 
now  some  forty  branches  with  a  membership  of  over  1,500. 

1  The  oka  is  equal  to  about  1\  avoirdupois. 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce         127 

Among  other  helpful  measures  taken  to  place  the  industry 
upon  a  paying  basis  nurseries  have  been  established  for  the 
cultivation  of  mulberry  trees  which  are  supplied  gratis  to  all 
engaged  in  silkworm  rearing  ;  and  exhibitions  of  both  raw 
and  manufactured  silk  are  occasionally  held  in  the  capital 
under  the  patronage  of  the  royal  family. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Greece  appears  to  have  been  to  a 
certain  extent  exploited  at  a  very  early  period,  and  mining 
is  still  a  profitable  industry.  The  chief  ores 
Mij?es jfnd  and  raw  materials  now  produced  include  iron 
Quarries.  and  iron  pyrites,  copper,  lead,  and  zinc,  man- 
ganese and  magnesite,  emery  and  chromite  ; 
while  from  the  various  marble  quarries  at  Dionysios,  Mani, 
and  Paros  on  the  mainland,  and  in  the  islands  of  Skyros,  Tenos, 
and  Euboea  are  obtained  every  species  of  white  and  coloured 
marble,  the  black  variety  being  also  represented.  A  number 
of  companies,  native  and  foreign,  have  for  many  years  past 
been  engaged  in  exploiting  the  mineral  resources  of  the  Greek 
kingdom.  One  of  these,  known  as  "  Grecian  Marbles,  Ltd.," 
a  British  firm  with  a  capital  of  £200,000,  owns  all  the  more 
valuable  marble  quarries,  including  those  at  Paros,  famous 
from  ancient  times  for  the  flesh-coloured  variety.  All  these 
quarries  had  indeed  been  to  a  certain  extent  previously 
worked,  and  more  especially  those  supplying  the  Pentelican 
marble  used  for  the  Parthenon  as  also  for  so  many  other  monu- 
ments of  the  classic  period.  The  mines  of  Lavrium,  situated 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula  of  Attica,  and  first 
worked,  it  is  supposed,  by  the  Phoenicians,  have  since  1875 
engaged  the  attention  of  three  mining  companies,  two  French 
ami  one  Greek.  For  many  years  all  these  concerns  were 
edingly  flourishing,  owing  to  the  profits  derived  not 
only  from  the  abundant  mineral  resources  of  this  region,  but 
also  from  the  accumulated  refuse  from  the  ancient  workings. 
The  latter  are,  however,  now  exhausted,  and  the  output  of 
lead  has  diminished  ;  but  as  that  of  iron  has  increased,  both 
the  French  companies  still  appear  to  find  the  industry  fairly 


128  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

profitable,  though  less  than  half  as  many  workmen  are  now 
employed.  Government  supervision  as  regards  the  workmen 
engaged  in  quarrying  is  fairly  severe,  and  not  only  do  the 
precautions  taken  to  ensure  their  safety  hamper  the  operations 
of  the  Company,  but  the  compensation  provided  for  by  State 
regulations  in  case  of  injury  or  death  seriously  affect  the 
profits  of  the  shareholders,  there  being  no  fixed  scale  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  injury.  The  Government,  however, 
pays  half  the  pension  of  a  workman  permanently  disabled, 
as  also  half  the  pensions  granted  to  the  widows  of  those  killed 
in  the  quarries. 

Fishing  is  carried  on  to  any  considerable  extent  only  in 
the  Gulf  of  Lepanto  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Piraeus, 
whence  the  capital  is  supplied.  The  quality  of  the  fish 
caught  on  the  west  coast  is,  however,  reputed  to  be  far 
superior  to  that  of  the  Bay  of  Salamis,  and  Mesolonghi 
supplies  the  Levant  with  one  of  its  most  prized  mezaliks,  or 
hors  d'ceuvres,  the  dried  fish-roe  called  botdrgo  elsewhere 
referred  to.  Greek  fishermen,  however,  pursue  their  calling 
on  all  the  shores  of  the  /Egean,  European  and  Asiatic, 
where  the  red  gleam  of  their  braziers  of  pitch-pine  chips  may 
be  seen  at  night  in  every  bay  and  round  every  little  cape  or 
headland. 

Sponge-fishing  constitutes  an  important  industry  for  the 

inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  Hydra,  Spetsai,  and  Aigina,  as 

well  as  for  the  men  of  the  little  coast  towns 

Fishing.         of  Trikeri  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Vol°' 
and  Hermione  and  Kranidi  in  Argolis.      In 

Hellenic  waters  the  sponges  have  become  almost  exhausted, 

and  the  fishing  grounds  now  chiefly  frequented  are  those  of 

the   African    coasts,    extending   from   Tunis   to   Alexandria, 

the  best  sponges  being  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 

latter  port  ;    and  though  fishing  within  the  three-mile  limit 

is   forbidden   by  the  Turkish   and   Egyptian   Governments, 

the    prohibition    is    little    regarded.     Sponge-fishing    is    also 

carried  on   in   Italian  waters,  in  the  Gulf  of  Taranto,   for 


Natural  Products  and  Commerce         129 

instance,  and  off  the  coasts  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  the  Lipari 
Isles.  About  three-fifths  of  the  population  of  the  islands 
and  coast  towns  whence  the  divers  come  support  themselves 
and  their  families  by  this  industry  which  is  pursued  for 
about  six  months  of  the  year,  the  boats  leaving  port  on 
"  Clean  Monday " — the  first  day  of  Lent — and  returning 
towards  the  end  of  October.  The  headquarters  of  this 
industry  would  now  seem  to  be  Aigina,  where  the  International 
Sponge  Importers'  Company  have  a  factory  managed  by  an 
English  agent  ;  and  from  this  island  from  forty  to  fifty 
boats  sail  out  every  spring,  each  manned  by  a  crew  of  about 
twenty  sailors  and  divers.  The  sponge-fishers  of  Kranidi 
and  Hermione  carry  out  their  operations  chiefly  by  means 
of  the  drag-net  ;  but  as  a  rule  the  diving  apparatus  is  em- 
ployed, a  method  which  demands  a  much  greater  outlay,  as 
each  complete  diver's  suit  costs  about  £80.  The  boats  of 
the  sponge-fishing  fleet  also  vary  considerably  in  build,  and 
fall  into  three  classes,  carrying  respectively  ten,  six,  and 
three  or  four  divers  among  their  crews. 

It  is  usual  for  the  divers  to  remain  below  for  fifteen  minutes 
at  a  time  at  a  depth  of  twenty  fathoms,  and  for  a  propor- 
tionately   shorter    time    at    greater    depths. 
Divers  After  serving  a  year  or  two  as  sailors  in  the 

fishing-boats,  a  youth  at  the  age  of  from 
eighteen  to  twenty  begins  his  career  as  a  diver,  and,  with 
good  luck,  may  pursue  it  until  middle  age,  by  which  time  he 
will  have  earned  sufficient  to  purchase  a  plot  of  land  and 
settle  down  as  a  cultivator,  or,  it  may  be,  to  become  himself 
a  shipowner.  The  calling  of  a  diver  is  not  hereditary  in  the 
communities  from  which  members  of  this  profession  are  drawn, 
but  the  mekanikos,  as  he  is  locally  termed,  is  esteemed  a  good 
match  by  parents  of  marriageable  daughters  in  the  fishing 
towns  and  villages.  The  profits  of  the  season's  industry  are 
shared  by  the  fishers  on  co-operative  principles,  those  of  the 
first-class  boats  being  divided  into  ninety  shares,  of  which 
thirty  fall  to  the  skipper,  who  is  not  unfrequently  also  the 
9— (2385) 


130  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

owner,  five  to  each  diver  and  one  to  each  sailor,  the  divers 
usually  receiving  before  sailing  a  certain  sum  on  account. 
There  seem,  however,  to  be  no  hard  and  fast  rules  in  this 
respect,  and  both  divers  and  sailors  may  be  entitled  to  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  profits  of  a  cruise.  A  diver  on  a  first-class 
boat  makes,  perhaps,  during  a  successful  season  some  £75, 
on  a  vessel  of  the  second-class  £50,  and  hardly  less  on  a  third- 
class  boat  ;  and  with  the  usual  Hellenic  thrift  he  will  either 
invest  his  savings  in  land,  or  in  building  a  boat  for  himself. 
Lack  of  the  necessary  capital  not  infrequently,  however, 
leads  the  sponge-fishers  to  have  recourse  to  usurers  who 
charge  some  25  per  cent,  on  the  money  borrowed  to  equip 
and  provision  a  boat,  though  arrangements  have  of  recent 
years  been  made  by  which  the  masters  are  enabled  to  obtain 
for  this  purpose  advances  at  4  per  cent,  from  the  National 
Bank  of  Greece.  During  the  sponge-fishing  season  two  small 
vessels  belonging  to  the  Greek  Navy  are  sent  to  the  African 
coast  to  serve  as  hospital  ships,  and  a  hospital  for  disabled 
divers  has  been  built  at  Tripoli  by  Queen  Olga.  Hitherto 
no  adequate  Government  regulations  have  existed  for  the 
control  of  the  fisheries,  and  owing  to  the  little  care  exercised 
in  the  use  of  the  diving-dress  a  very  considerable  proportion 
of  the  sponge-fishers  unfortunately  become,  after  a  few  years, 
either  partially  or  completely  paralysed,  and  from  thirty  to 
forty  deaths  are  said  to  occur  every  season  from  this  cause 
alone  among  those  engaged  in  this  industry. 

Owing  to  their  natural  aptitude  for  commerce  as  also  to 
their  hereditary  predilection  for  a  sea-faring  life,  the  Greeks 
have  secured  a  great  proportion  of  the  trade  of  the  Levant. 
All  the  chief  ports  of  the  Mediterranean,  ^Egean  and  Baltic 
seas  contain  important  mercantile  colonies  belonging  to  this 
nationality,  many  of  the  trading  firms  being  exceedingly 
wealthy.  In  some  of  the  Mgean  islands  almost  every  house- 
holder is  owner,  or  part  owner,  of  a  vessel,  a  large  number  of 
the  smaller  craft  engaged  in  the  coasting  trade  hailing  from 
the  Cyclades  and  Ionian  Islands.     A  considerable  proportion 


Natural  Products  and   Commerce  131 

of  the  shipping  on  the  Danube  and  Pruth  rivers  is  also 
owned  by  the  islanders  of  Ithaca  and  Kephallenia ;  and 
Greek  vessels  of  considerable  tonnage  carry  cargoes  of 
grain  from  Russian  to  Mediterranean  ports.  As  many 
as  1,364  vessels  are  now  registered  under  the  Hellenic  flag, 
of  which  275  are  steamers,  the  seven  principal  companies 
owning  among  them  as  many  as  forty  liners,  the  Piraeus  and 
Hermoupolis  in  the  island  of  Syra  being  the  chief  seats  of  the 
carrying  trade. 


CHAPTER    XI 

RURAL   LIFE   AND   PURSUITS 

But  although  Greece  is,  as  previously  remarked,  essentially 
an  agricultural  country,  the  life  of  a  small  cultivator  appears 

to  offer  few  attractions  to  the  Greek  youth  of 
The  Greek       the  present  fay,  unless  he  can  see  in  it  an 

opening  for  enterprise  and  speculation.  It  is 
consequently  only  those  born  and  bred  on  the  soil  and  chained 
to  it  by  circumstances  who  are  content  with  a  rustic  life, 
and  the  Albanians  make  better  farmers  than  the  Hellenes. 
The  Thessalian  peasant  certainly,  who  appears  to  be  a  born 
agriculturist,  prefers  to  see  his  family  settled  on  the  land 
tilled  by  his  progenitors  from  time  immemorial  ;  and  given 
the  better  conditions  that  must  almost  necessarily  be  the 
result  of  the  new  government  schemes  for  the  benefit  of 
Thessaly,  its  now  exiled  sons  might  be  induced  to  return  to 
their  native  province,  which  is  at  present  but  thinly  populated. 
Yet  even  in  Thessaly,  as  elsewhere,  if  a  peasant  proprietor 
or  tenant  farmer  can  dispense  with  the  services  of  one  or 
more  of  his  usually  large  family,  his  sons  gladly  quit  the 
homestead  in  pursuit  of  more  lucrative  and,  it  may  be,  more 
congenial  employment.  Endowed  with  a  remarkable  degree 
of  enterprise,  perseverance,  and  address,  and  aided  by  the 
educational  advantages  at  his  disposal,  a  Greek  peasant  lad 
may  adopt  almost  any  career  for  which  he  deems  himself  to 
have  a  vocation  ;  and  one  hears  of  cases  in  which,  while  one 
son  of  a  peasant  family  has  been  content  with  the  position 
of  a  skilled  artisan  or  a  domestic  servant,  his  brother  will 
have  either  made  his  fortune  in  commerce  or  have  become  a 
distinguished  member  of  one  of  the  learned  professions. 

132 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  133 

It  is,  however,  foreign  emigration  that  is  robbing  Hellas 

of  her  hardy  peasantry,  and  this  constitutes  one  of  the  most 

serious   problems    with    which    the     Hellenic 

Emigration.  Government  is  at  the  present  day  confronted. 
For  Greece  has  no  surplus  population,  and, 
if  the  country  is  to  prosper,  the  services  of  every  able-bodied 
man  and  boy  are  needed  for  the  proper  development  of  its 
natural  resources.  Weekly  emigrant  steamers  carry  large 
numbers  to  Western  lands  and  bring  but  few  back,  and 
every  year  the  number  of  voluntary  exiles  increases  by  leaps 
and  bounds,  with  the  consequence  that  many  agricultural 
districts  are  left  without  labourers  to  till  the  soil.  The 
number  of  Greek  emigrants  who  betook  themselves  to  the 
United  States  alone  in  the  year  1900  was  already  nearly 
4,000  ;  and  in  ten  years'  time  from  38,000  to  40,000  were 
annually  arriving,  nearly  all  of  these  being  youths  and  men 
under  thirty  years  of  age,  the  proportion  of  women  accom- 
panying them  not  exceeding  1£  per  cent.  The  emigrants 
appear  to  come  from  every  part  of  the  country,  from  the 
fertile  valleys  of  the  western  Peloponnesos  no  less  than  from 
less  favoured  regions  ;  and  agricultural  labourers  are  becom- 
ing exceedingly  scarce  in  many  parts.  In  other  departments 
of  labour  also  the  lack  of  hands  is  being  seriously  felt,  a  large 
number  of  Greek  miners  having  left  their  employment  with 
the  French  Mining  Company  of  Lavrium  to  seek  their  fortune 
beyond  the  seas. 

Though  the  Corfiot  of  to-day  would  rather  starve  at  home 
than  thrive  abroad,  the  islanders  generally,  both  of  the  Ionian 
and  iEgean  seas,  display  a  more  enterprising  spirit,  and  cer- 
tain of  them  contribute  largely  to  the  annual  total  of  emi- 
grating Greeks.  Euboea's  sons  are,  it  appears,  deserting 
their  native  isle  in  ever-increasing  numbers.  The  youth  of 
the  Ionian  Islands  of  Ithake  and  Kephallenia  sail  away,  not 
only  to  the  United  States,  but  also  to  South  Africa,  and 
these,  it  appears,  seldom  return  again  save  for  the  two  years 
of  their   military  service.     The   inhabitants   of   Crete   also, 


134  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

both  Christian  and  Moslem,  have,  since  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  left  their  troubled  isle  in  great  numbers  for  various 
destinations. 

From  the  Cyclades  generally,  however,  the  emigration  is, 
as  it  always  has  been,  rather  in  the  direction  of  the  great 
cities  of  the  Levant,  than  to  the  El  Dorados 
Wanderers  °*  t^le  West,  and  is  generally  of  a  more  tem- 
porary character,  the  men  of  certain  of  these 
iEgean  Islands  going  as  marble  masons  to  Alexandria  and 
other  places  for  periods  of  two  or  three  years  only.  Their 
wives  in  many  cases  resort  meanwhile  to  Athens,  Smyrna, 
or  Constantinople,  where  they  command  high  wages  as  para- 
mdnas,  or  wet  nurses  ;  and  the  girls  from  these  islands  are 
always  in  great  demand  as  cooks  and  housemaids  in  foreign 
as  well  as  in  Greek  households.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
the  Greek  peasant  has  often  had  a  strong  motive  for  aban- 
doning his  patris  and  seeking  fortune  in  the  New  World. 
Earning  at  home  only  the  meagre  wage  of  from  three  to 
four  drachma  a  day,  the  prospect  held  out  to  him  of  obtaining 
nearly  treble  that  amount  proves  an  almost  irresistible  temp- 
tation to  a  labouring  man.  As  a  rule,  one  son  of  a  family 
first  makes  the  venture,  and,  should  he  prosper,  he  will  send 
money  home  to  enable  a  brother  to  join  him.  Living  as 
frugally  in  the  States  as  he  did  in  the  East,  he  saves  the 
greater  part  of  his  daily  wage  to  remit  to  those  dependent 
on  him  at  home.  A  certain  proportion  naturally,  after  cross- 
ing the  Atlantic,  fail  to  realise  their  expectations,  and  instead 
of  finding  congenial  and  profitable  employment  are  compelled 
to  accept  the  lowest  forms  of  labour  in  the  great  cities  of  the 
West,  and  finally  return  home  poorer  than  when  they  left. 1 
The  Greek,  however,  being  very  adaptable,  and,  as  a  rule, 
devoid  of  any  false  pride,  usually  can  turn  his  hand  to  any 

1  M.  Botassio,  Consul-General  for  Greece  at  New  York,  reported 
recently  that  an  alarming  number  of  the  Greek  emigrants  in  the  United 
States  are  in  a  condition  of  pitiable  poverty  and  distress,  and  laid  the 
blame  for  this  state  of  affairs  on  the  emigration  agents.  His  statements 
are,  however,  characterised  by  other  Greeks  as  exaggerated. 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  135 

work  that  may  present  itself,  and  consequently  seldom  fails 
ultimately  to  fall  on  his  feet. 

Notwithstanding  the  foundation  of  the  various  Agricultural 
Colleges  and  Centres  above  referred  to,  and  the  attempts 
which  have  for  many  years  past  been  made 
Primitive        f0  introduce  into  general  use  improved  agri- 
Methods  of  nil  f  vm      u  -4 
Cultivation.      cultural  implements,  very  little  change  is  yet 

discoverable  in  the  methods  of  the  Greek 
cultivator,  save,  of  course,  on  estates  personally  managed 
by  foreigners  or  by  Greeks  imbued  with  modern  ideas. 
Machinery  is  still  almost  unknown,  and  the  implements  of 
husbandry  in  common  use  are  generally  of  a  most  primitive 
character,  entailing  much  hand  labour,  and  resulting  in  con- 
siderable waste.  Arable  land  is  still  in  many  localities,  as 
in  Pelasgian  times,  broken  by  a  clumsy,  one-handled  plough 
drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  threshing  is  carried  out  by  the 
farmers'  daughters  with  the  help  of  an  implement  dating  back 
to  a  period  equally  remote — two  heavy  pieces  of  wood,  namely, 
joined  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  and  studded  on  the  under 
side  with  a  number  of  rough  flints.  Or,  in  some  parts,  a 
team  of  horses  or  oxen  is  driven  round  and  round  the  grain- 
str<  wn  threshing-floor,  the  uncrushed  ears  that  may  remain 
1»  sing  beaten  out  with  sticks  by  the  women  and  children, 
who  winnow  the  grain  by  throwing  it  into  the  air  with  wooden 
shovels.  Agriculture  is,  consequently,  notwithstanding  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  in  the  majority  of  the  Greek  provinces, 
and  the  favourable  conditions  which  prevail  in  those  of  the 
south  especially,  in  a  more  or  less  backward  state. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  agricultural   population 
live  vary  considerably  according  to  locality  and  to  the  system 

of  land  tenure  obtaining  in  the  special  dis- 
Peasantry        trict.     In  the  southern  provinces  of  Hellas 

the  tillers  of  the  ground  are  chiefly  peasant 
proprietors  ;  in  others  they  are  hereditary  tenants  under 
what  is  known  in  Europe  as  the  metayer  system  ;  and  there 
is  also  a  class  of  agricultural  labourers  who  enter  into  yearly 


136  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

or  half-yearly  contracts  with  the  landowners,  no  agricultural 
day-labourers  being  available  in  Greece.  The  first-named 
class  of  agriculturists  are  by  far  the  most  prosperous.  In 
the  Peloponnesos,  where  they  are  mostly  grouped  in  villages, 
the  farmsteads  present  an  appearance  of  considerable  com- 
fort, being  built  of  stone  with  roofs  of  red  tiles,  standing  amid 
gardens  festooned  about  with  vines,  and  surrounded  by  fruit 
orchards  and  olive  groves.  In  Eastern  Thessaly  there  have 
also  existed  from  time  immemorial  a  number  of  so-called 
"  Free  Villages"  (elevtherochoria)  or"  Head  Villages,"  (kephalo- 
choria)  which,  since  the  cession  of  that  province  to  Greece 
thirty  years  ago,  have  recovered  their  former  prosperity. 
Here  the  farm-houses  are  usually  of  two  stories,  substantially 
built  of  stone,  and  enclosed  within  a  walled  courtyard.  Tables, 
chairs,  and  even  bedsteads  are  not  unknown  luxuries  among 
their  furnishings.  Pictures  hang  on  their  whitewashed  walls, 
and  the  living-room  will  be  found  to  contain  a  large  assort- 
ment of  brightly-burnished  copper  pans,  and  the  storeroom 
an  ample  supply  of  native  wine,  oil,  grain,  and  other 
home-grown  provisions. 

In  the  great  grain-growing  plains  of  central  Thessaly  the 
agricultural  lands  are  divided  into  large  estates,  owned  for 

the    most  part    by  absentee  landlords  who 
System7"     reside  at  a  distance  and  are  represented  by 

their  agents.  Here  the  land  is  cultivated 
chiefly  on  the  metayer  system  above  mentioned.  Under 
this  system  the  owners  supply  the  seed  grain  to  their  tenants 
and  pay  one-third  of  the  land-tax,  receiving  as  rent  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  produce,  but  making  no  contribution  to- 
wards the  cost  of  cultivation.  In  Italy  and  France  the 
peasants  working  under  this  system  are  fairly  prosperous  ; 
but  in  the  East  these  hereditary  cultivators  have  hitherto 
laboured  under  considerable  disadvantages  and  are  for  the 
most  part  poor.  Their  dwellings  present  a  pitiable  aspect, 
being  wretched  huts  constructed  of  mud-plastered  wattle,  of 
one  story  only,  with  unglazed  windows,  and  limited  as  to 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  137 

accommodation.  The  condition  of  this  section  of  the  rural 
population  is  now,  however,  receiving  the  serious  attention 

of  the  Government,  which  has  lately  been  taking  steps  to 
increase  peasant  proprietorship  in  these  regions  by  dividing 
certain  Crown  lands  into  small  holdings,  and  also  by  the 
purchase  of  suitable  estates  for  the  same  purpose.  A  large 
proportion  of  these  new  holdings  have  been  utilised  for  the 
settlement,  on  very  favourable  terms,  of  the  numerous  families 
of  destitute  refugees  from  the  agricultural  districts  devastated 
during  the  course  of  the  late  war.  It  is  now  proposed  to 
acquire  by  degrees  more  of  the  now  privately-owned  estates 
and  to  settle  also  on  them,  as  peasant  proprietors,  the  tenants 
by  whom  they  are  now  cultivated  under  the  metayer  system  ; 
and  many  large  landowners  have  offered  to  convert  their 
property  into  small  holdings  on  condition  of  obtaining  fair 
prices  in  return.  A  financial  institution  termed  the  "  Thes- 
salian  Fund  "  has  already  been  formed,  and  a  Government 
scheme  drafted  by  means  of  which  bond  fide  peasant  farmers 
will  be  enabled  to  acquire  lots  by  means  of  a  system  of  deferred 
payments.  And  it  is  confidently  anticipated  that,  by  this 
means,  and  given  a  few  favourable  seasons,  a  more  prosperous 
period  may  be  inaugurated,  and  that  the  great  plains  of  Thes- 
saly  may  eventually  become  the  granary  of  the  country, 
which  now  requires  large  importations  of  foreign  wheat. 

Farm  labourers  are  usually  paid  a  monthly  wage  at  the 
rate  of  from  thirty  to  forty  drachma,  and  are  provided  also 
with  food  and  lodging  by  their  employer.    In 
Wages.         neighbourhoods   where   emigration   has   pro- 
duced a  scarcity  of  labour  much  higher  wages 
are  obtainable,  and  in  harvest-time  a  reaper  may  receive,  in 
addition  to  his  food,  from  3s.  to  3s.  6d.  per  day.     Women 
and  children,  generally  speaking,  work  in  the  fields  only  at 
harvest-time,  when  hands  are  scarce.     They  are  always  paid 
by  the  day,  and  at  such  seasons  earn  fairly  good  wages.    The 
food  Mippli.d  consists  chiefly  of  bread,  sheeps'-milk  cheese, 
and   phasouldkia,   or   white   beans,   together    with    a    daily 


138  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

modicum  of  wine  or  native  spirit,  and  occasionally  a  little 
lamb  or  mutton. 

In  some  districts,  as,  for  instance,  in  Thessaly  and  near 
Mesolonghi,  considerable  quantities  of  rice  are  grown  on  the 

low-lying  lands,  and  here,  as  on  marshy  lands 
ai^ContumptfJn.  generally  throughout  the  country,   malarial 

fevers  are  very  prevalent.  The  disease  is 
also  disseminated  by  the  mosquito  which  breeds  in  these 
marshes  ;  and  such  a  scourge  has  it  become  that  the  whole 
population  of  certain  districts  may  be  found  affected  by  it, 
the  death  rate  among  children  from  this  cause  being  very  high. 
Aguish  fevers  are,  indeed,  everywhere  common  among  the 
peasant  class,  who  appear  to  take  few  precautions  against 
them  beyond  imbibing  strong  spirits.  Very  large  doses  of 
quinine  are,  however,  had  recourse  to  as  remedies,  followed 
in  the  convalescent  stage  by  tonics  composed  of  arsenic  and 
strychnine.  The  Government  having  made  the  sale  of  quinine 
a  monopoly,  it  is  now  procurable  at  a  third  of  its  former 
price.  Consumption,  however,  makes  greater  ravages  than 
even  fever  among  the  population  generally,  and  even  in 
Athens,  which  is  reputed  the  healthiest  town  in  Greece,  19 
per  cent,  of  deaths  are  due  to  phthisis.  The  extraordinary 
prevalence  of  this  terrible  disease  appears  to  be  in  no  way  due 
to  the  climate,  but  rather  to  the  extreme  carelessness  of  the 
people  in  matters  of  hygiene  and  to  their  disregard  of  all 
medical  instructions  with  reference  to  isolation.  For  this,  as 
for  other  infectious  diseases,  hospitals  have  hitherto  been  sadly 
lacking,  notwithstanding  the  fear  of  infection  usually  dis- 
played by  the  Greeks  generally,  the  only  hospital  for  con- 
sumptives to  be  found  in  Athens  being  that  built  a  few  years 
ago  by  the  munificence  of  Madame  Schliemann,  the  widow 
of  the  famous  archaeologist. 

As  the  peasant  proprietors  produce  on  their  holdings,  in 
addition  to  what  they  may  raise  for  sale,  all  the  wool,  flax, 
and  cotton  required  for  the  family  clothing  and  for  house- 
hold purposes,   the   various   processes  of  their  manufacture 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  139 

will  be  carried  out  by  the  women  ot  the  family.    After  tin- 

sheep-shearing,  which  is  always  done  by  hand,  the  wool  is 

bleached  and  spun,  and  the  yarn  woven  into 

Home  cloth  on    the    primitive  loom  to  be  found  in 

Industries.  * 

every  homestead,  however  humbl<\      I  he  flax 

and  cotton  are  also  prepared  according  to  time-honoured  usage, 
the  former  being  beaten  by  hand,1  while  the  cotton-pods 
are  put  through  a  small  hand  machine  called  the  manganos, 
which  turns  two  rollers  in  contrary  directions,  separating  the 
fibre  from  the  seed.  The  instrument  next  used  is  the  toxevein, 
i  large  bow  made  from  a  curved  branch  five  or  six  feet  long, 
the  two  ends  of  which  are  connected  with  a  stout  string. 
The  cotton  is  laid  loosely  on  this  string  which  is  made  to 
vibrate  by  being  struck  with  a  mallet,  producing  a  monotonous 
but  not  unmusical  sound.  This  process  detaches  the  par- 
ticles of  cotton,  and  it  is  now  ready  to  use  as  wadding  for 
the  paplomata,  large  quilts  which,  with  a  sheet  tacked  to 
the  underside,  form  all  the  winter  bed-covering  of  the  lower 
orders  throughout  the  Levant.  The  mattresses  are  also 
usually  stuffed  with  cotton,  and  the  palliasses  with  maize 
husks. 

If,  however,  the  cotton  is  to  be  converted  into  yarn  for 
weaving,  it  is  twisted  into  a  loose  coil  as  it  leaves  the 
toxevein,  wound  round  the  distaff,  and  spun.  When  the 
yarn  has  been  dyed,  or  bleached,  according  to  the  use  to 
which  it  is  to  be  put,  the  women  and  girls  set  to  work  at 
the  hand-looms  and  weave  it  into  strong  durable  calico,  or, 
in  conjunction  with  wool  or  raw  silk,  into  brightly-striped 
stuffs  for  dresses  and  household  purposes.  A  certain  pro- 
portion of  the  cotton  and  wool  will  also  be  reserved  for 
stocking-knitting ;  and  it  is  often  very  pleasing  to  watch  the 
graceful  motions  and  picturesque  poses  of  the  younger  women 

1  In  the   Greek  folk-tales   and   songs   dealing  with    mediaeval    and 
ST  periods,  when  spinning,  weaving,  and  embroidery  constituted 
the  chief  occupation  of  the  women  of  a  noble  household,  the  flax-beater 
invariably  occupies  the  lowest  social  position. 


140  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  girls  as,  standing  on  their  rustic  little  balconies,  they 
send  the  spindle  whirling  into  courtyard  or  village  street 
while  twisting  the  thread  for  this  purpose.  The  knitting  is 
done  with  five  fine,  curved  pins  having  ends  like  crochet- 
hooks,  and  the  stocking  is  always  made  inside  out.  This 
method  produces  a  close,  even  stitch,  and  the  work  is  extremely 
durable.  The  old  women  usually  undertake  this  part  of  the 
household  task,  and  with  stocking  in  hand  and  the  "  feed  " 
of  the  yarn  regulated  by  a  brass  pin  fastened  to  their  bodices, 
they  sit  in  their  doorways  for  hours  together,  gossiping  with 
neighbours,  telling  fairy-tales  to  the  boys  and  girls,  or  croon- 
ing to  the  babies  some  of  the  many  charming  lullabies  which 
exist  in  Greek  folk-literature. 

Silk-culture,  in  its  preliminary  stages  at  least,  forms  to  a 
great  extent  a  home  industry,  when  it  is  undertaken  chiefly 
by  the  women  and  girls  of  a  household,  whom  it  keeps  fully 
occupied  during  the  spring  and  early  summer  months.  The 
long,  switch-like  branches  of  the  pollarded  mulberry-trees  are 
gathered  fresh  twice  daily  and  laid  over  the  trays  containing 
the  caterpillars  ;  and  all  the  tedious  and  laborious  details 
connected  with  the  silkworm  nurseries  are  duly  and  carefully 
carried  out  in  order  to  keep  the  little  workers  healthy,  and 
thus  ensure  the  best  results. 

Owing  to  the  mountainous  character  of  the  Greek  kingdom 
the  forest  area  is  very  considerable,  being  estimated  at  one- 
fifth  of  the  entire  surface  of  the  mainland, 
of  Greece.       anc*>  as  *n  *ne  neighbouring  Balkan  States,  it 
is  chiefly  the  property  of  the  State,  though 
certain  portions  are  held  in  common  by  the  inhabitants  of 
adjacent  villages  and  townships,  who  enjoy  traditional  rights 
of  pasturage  and  woodcutting  over  such  areas.     In  the  past 
the  forests  have  not  only  suffered  from  neglect,  but  also  from 
wholesale  destruction  by  fire,  sometimes  accidentally  caused 
in  dry  weather,  but  more  frequently  wilfully,  by  the  shepherds 
who,  when  burning  the  brushwood  for  the  sake  of  increasing 
the  pasturage,  set  fire  also  to  the  trees,  when  miles  of  valuable 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  141 

timber  were  often  consumed.  Great  damage  is  also  done 
by  the  goats,  who  browse  on  the  young  saplings  ;  and  the 
pine-trees  are  injured  by  the  practice  of  tapping  them  for 
the  resin  so  largely  used,  among  other  purposes,  for  mixing 
with  the  native  wine.  The  denizens  of  these  forests  are  chiefly 
sheep  and  goats,  of  which  four  and  a  half  million 
°Herdsn  °*  *^e  f°rmer  an(l  three  and  a  half  million 
of  the  latter  contribute  to  the  rural  wealth  of 
the  country,  their  number  being  on  the  increase.  The  sheep 
reared  in  Greece  are  of  two  kinds,  one  being  peculiar  to  the 
mountain  regions,  and  the  other  to  the  plains,  the  former 
being  a  small  breed  and  the  latter  presenting  two  varieties, 
one  with  straight  wool,  and  the  other,  which  is  met  with 
only  in  Thessaly,  having  a  curly  fleece.  No  attempts  appear 
yet  to  have  been  made  to  improve  the  native  breeds  either 
as  regards  the  flesh  or  the  wool  by  the  introduction  of  foreign 
stock,  dipping  is  rarely  resorted  to,  and  the  shearing  is  still 
done  by  hand  in  time-honoured  fashion. 

Oxen  and  buffaloes,  horses,  mules,  and  donkeys  are  also 
reared  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  lowlands,  and  attention 
has  of  late  years  been  given  to  improving  the 
Cattle-Breeding.  native  breed  of  pigs.  The  larger  cattle  are, 
however,  comparatively  few,  oxen  being  bred 
only  for  farm  work  and  not  for  the  meat  market,  where  beef 
of  good  quality  is  seldom  found.  The  native  breed  is  also 
of  small  size.  Buffaloes  are  seldom  seen  in  Southern  and 
Central  Greece,  though  in  North-western  Thessaly  and 
Macedonia  they  are  largely  used  for  farm  and  heavy  draught 
work.  The  reorganisation  of  the  army  has  also  led  to  a 
demand  for  horses  suitable  for  cavalry  and  artillery,  and 
attention  is  consequently  being  given  to  horse-breeding  on 
more  scientific  lines  than  formerly.  The  native  Thessalian 
horse  is  small,  but  sturdy  and  enduring  ;  and  a  considerable 
number  are  bred  on  the  wide,  grassy  plains  of  that  extensive 
province. 

The  peasant  farmers  usually  own  a  large  number  of  cattle. 


142  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

oxen  being  chiefly  used  in  farm  work  and  for  draught  pur- 
poses ;  and  the  industry  of  cattle-breeding  is  carried  on  in 
co-operative  fashion,  the  cows  being  owned  collectively  by 
the  farmers  of  a  village  or  district.  The  owners  employ  two 
or  more  herdsmen  to  tend  the  cows  and  calves  on  the  common 
pasturages,  where  they  remain  permanently  during  the  summer 
months,  but  in  winter  are  brought  back  at  sunset  to  be  fed 
and  stabled  at  the  farmsteads  of  their  various  owners.  No 
dairy  work,  however,  is  undertaken  in  connection  with  such 
herds,  there  being  no  surplus  milk  after  the  calves  have  been 
satisfied.  Dairy  farming,  as  understood  in  the  West,  was, 
indeed,  quite  unknown  in  Greece  until  recently,  and  the  few 
dairy  farms  now  to  be  found  in  the  country  have  been 
established  by  foreign  residents. 

Pigs  are  also  reared  in  much  the  same  fashion,  being  driven 
collectively  to  the  forests  in  autumn  to  feed  on  beech-mast 
and  acorns.  Of  late  years  some  attempts  have  been  made 
to  improve  the  native  breed  by  the  introduction  of  Yorkshire 
and  other  stock  from  abroad,  and  apparently  with  very 
satisfactory  results. 

The  charms  of  the  pastoral  life  have  been  sung  by  many 
Greek  poets,  ancient  and  modern,  as  well  as  by  the  nameless 

bards  of  the  folk  with  whose  simple  utter- 
Life*0         ances  the  shepherd,  tending  his  flock  far  from 

the  haunts  of  men,  cheers  his  lonely  hours — 
careful,  however,  not  to  disturb  the  noontide  slumbers  of 
those  mysterious  beings  who  still,  as  of  old,  haunt  such  sylvan 
solitudes.  In  many  localities,  however,  the  task  of  shep- 
herding is  nowadays  shared  by  the  family  generally.  In 
the  highlands  of  Messenia  the  children  in  summer  tend  the 
sheep  and  goats  on  the  pasturages  during  the  daytime,  while 
by  night  the  men  with  their  fierce  dogs  keep  watch  and 
ward  against  prowling  wolf,  fox,  or  human  enemy.  The 
daughter  of  a  peasant  proprietor  will  also  have  the  care  of 
her  father's  sheep,  which  she  leads  every  morning  to  the 
communal  pasturage  and  brings  back  to  the  fold  at  eventide. 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  143 

The  voskopoula,  as  a  Greek  shepherdess  is  termed,  i  a  very 
favourite  character  in  rural  folk-song,  and  many  a  charming 
idyll  has  been  composed  in  her  honour  by  amorous  swain 
Little  leisure  has  she,  however,  for  sylvan  dallying,  for  the 
sheep  and  goats  must  be  milked  and  the  milk  converted  into 
the  cheese  and  yiaourti,  or  sour  curds,  which  form  so 
considerable  a  part  of  the  daily  dietary  of  the  household. 

The  typical  shepherds  of  Central  and  Northern  Greece  are, 
however,  the  nomad  Vlachs  previously  mentioned,  who  in 
summer  may  be  found  wandering  over  the 
She 'herds  great  mountain  ranges  of  Epirus  and  Thessaly, 
southwards  to  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth 
and  eastwards  from  Salonica  to  Cape  Sunium,  crossing  also 
the  narrow  straits  into  the  mountains  of  Euboea.  These  hill 
pasturages  they  rent  from  the  neighbouring  village  com- 
munes, or,  in  the  case  of  Crown  lands,  from  the  Govern- 
ment. The  winter  season  is  passed  in  the  lowlands;  and, 
during  several  months,  the  Vlachs  may  be  found  encamped 
in  great  numbers  in  Attica,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake 
Paralimme  in  Boiotia,  on  the  marshy  lands  near  Marathon, 
and  in  various  parts  of  eastern  Thessaly.  Here  they  set  up 
their  huts,  which  are  circular  in  shape,  of  closely-woven  reeds 
and  branches,  comfortably  lined  within  with  hangings  of 
goats'-hair  cloth,  the  floor  of  beaten  earth  being  covered  with 
thick,  native  matting  and  brightly-coloured,  home-made  rugs, 
while  hard,  oblong  cushions,  piled  round  against  the  walls, 
do  duty  for  seats.  At  Eastertide  the  lambs  are  taken  into 
the  towns  for  sale,  Athens  alone  consuming  during  that 
festive  season  not  fewer  than  80,000  ;  and  as  the  ewes  by  this 
time  have  lost  their  milk  and  are  able  to  travel,  the  Vlachs 
now  break  up  their  winter  camp  and  commence  their  summer 
migrations.  These  are  effected  in  leisurely  fashion,  the 
higher  mountains  being  reached  only  when  the  summer  heats 
have  set  in.  On  the  way  from  one  pasturage  to  another  the 
animals  are  marshalled  into  a  solid  phalanx,  the  goats  in 
front,    the   sheep   next,   and   then   the  mules  and   donkeys 


144  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

carrying — in  addition  to  the  tents  and  the  babies — great  saddle- 
bags of  black  hair-cloth  containing  the  dairy  utensils  and 
other  goods  and  chattels,  while  the  nomads,  in  justanella  and 
capa  of  hue  equally  grimy,  with  gun  on  shoulder,  and  attended 
by  their  fierce  Molossian  dogs,  guard  the  company  on  either 
hand  from  the  perils  of  the  way.     Their  encampments  when 

thus  on  the  road — one  of  which  I  had  some 
A  Vlach 
Encampment.    years  aS°  an  opportunity  of  seeing— forms  a 

picturesque  spectacle.  As  soon  as  the  halt  is 
called,  the  black  goats'-hair  tents  are  unloaded  from  the 
mules  and  pitched  by  the  men,  while  the  women  and  girls 
milk  the  goats,  prepare  the  evening  meal,  or  nurse  the  babies, 
and  the  flocks  are  rounded  up  by  the  barking  dogs  and  shout- 
ing boys.  Arrived  at  the  high  pasturages  the  nomads  build 
huts  or  shealings  of  pine  branches  and  brushwood  as  summer 
quarters  for  the  women  and  children,  who  remain  in  these 
little  settlements  while  the  men  and  boys  wander  for  months 
with  their  flocks  and  fierce  dogs  over  the  high,  grassy  alps, 
sleeping  with  them  in  the  open,  wrapped  only  in  their  shaggy 
capas  of  thick  homespun. 

The  social  organisation  of  these  Vlach  shepherds  is  of  a 
quite  patriarchal  character.     They  form  small  communities 

termed  stania,  or  "  Sheepfolds,"  consisting  of 
Chieftains       twenty  or  more  families  under  the  headship 

of  an  hereditary  tsellingas,  or  chieftain,  who 
governs  his  little  clan  on  aristocratic  principles  and  himself 
conducts  all  its  transactions  with  the  outside  world.  In  his 
own  family,  too,  he  is  an  absolute  autocrat,  and  his  sons  and 
younger  brothers  may  not  sit  at  table  with  him,  but  must 
stand  and  wait  upon  their  elders  and  his  guests.  Many  of 
these  tsellingas  are  men  of  substance,  and  possess  valuable 
and  interesting  heirlooms  in  the  shape  of  silver  cups,  cartridge- 
cases,  etc.,  which  are  marvels  of  art  ;  while  their  women,  on 
holidays,  wear  with  their  native  costumes  wonderful  belt- 
clasps,  bracelets,  and  hanging  necklaces  of  silver,  ponderous 
certainly,  but  of  beautiful  workmanship. 


Rural  Life  and  Pursuits  145 

These  wealthy  flock-masters  were,  in  the  old  days  of  Otto- 
man oppression,  frequently  despoiled  both  of  coin  and  gear, 
not  only  by  brigands,  but  also  by  local  Turkish  governors; 
and  the  popular  muse  records  as  follows  a  harrying  by  the 
latter  species  of  brigand  which  took  place  in  1770. 

"  Rides  a  Pasha  along  the  road,  another  in  his  wake, 
And  to  the  town  of  Trikkala  themselves  do  they  betake, 

The   elders    and    headmen   to  seize — it  is  for  this 
Demake  of  the  they  go — 

"White  River."      And    take     Demake,    chief    'mong   them   of   the 
Aspropotamo. 
Demake's  warned  and  fast  he  flees  up  to  the  mountain  high, 
He  Kriki's  towers  has  reached  which  are  to  Mezzovo  anigh  ; 
Roast  meat  upon  his  table's  served,  sweet  wine  is  in  his  cup, 
But  nor  for  food  nor  wine  cares  he,  he  has  no  heart  to  sup. 
To  him  his  son  Nikola  comes  and  says  with  cheering  voice, 
'  Eat  now  and  drink,  Af&ndi  mine,  and  let  thine  heart  rejoice  ! — 
F.'en  if  they  should  our  houses  burn,  soon  shall  we  build  us  more  ! 
If  they  of  us  piastres  ask,  we'll  give  them  gold  galore  ! 
If  of  our  sheep  they  rob  us  now,  we'll  still  have  flocks  enow, 
For  lucky  still  shall  be  the  Vlachs  of  the  Aspropotamo  '  " 

The  Demake,  whose  memory  is  kept  alive  in  this  song, 
was  a  wealthy  Vlach  proprietor  and  head-man  of  the  district 
lying  along  the  banks  of  the  Aspropotamos,  the  "  White 
River."  Having  been  induced  by  Turkish  promises  to  quit 
his  refuge  at  Mezzovo,  he  and  his  sons  were  murdered  in  their 
house  at  Trikkala. 


-(2385) 


CHAPTER   XII 

URBAN    AND   SOCIAL   LIFE 

Though  in  some  of  its  aspects  quite  western  and  modern, 
Athens,  in  common  with  certain  provincial  towns,  still  retains 

many  Oriental  characteristics.  Very  inter- 
im Athens"    es^mg   are   indeed   its   streets   at   all   times. 

Closely  in  touch  with  the  surrounding  country 
as  is  the  capital  and  unsophisticated  its  system  of  provision- 
ment,  the  eye  is  arrested  at  every  turn  by  some  fresh  blending 
of  rural  and  urban,  of  East  and  West.  Now  it  is  a  herd  of 
the  milch  goats  who  twice  a  day  stroll  through  the  streets 
browsing  by  the  way  on  the  orange  peel  and  paper  bags 
they  find  in  the  gutter.  The  muffled  tinkle  of  their  bells 
which  accompanies  the  fustanella-clad  herdsman's  cry  of 
Ghdla  !  Ghdla  !  brings  to  their  doors  one  housewife  or  maid- 
servant after  another  with  their  pitchers,  into  which  the 
sweet  warm  milk  is  directly  drawn.  Presently  the  little 
shoeblack  from  Southern  Greece  comes  up  with  his  cry  of 
Loustro  verniki !  and,  seeing  a  stranger,  offers  him  tickets 
in  the  State  lottery  before  he  sets  to  work  on  the  couple  of 
pairs  of  men's  shoes  which  have  been  thrown  out  to  him. 

Athens  possesses  quite  a  little  army  of  boot- 
Shoeblack        blacks   who    may   be   seen    in    every   street 

with  their  boxes,  which  they  knock  with  a 
brush  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public ;  and  between 
the  prevalance  of  dust  in  dry  and  of  mud  in  wet  weather 
and  the  Athenian's  pride  in  his  immaculate  footgear,  the 
loustroi,  numerous  as  they  are,  manage  not  only  to  make  a 
living,  but  to  earn  enough  to  send  money  to  their  relatives 
at  home.  Bright,  capable,  and  obliging,  with  Greek  adap- 
tiveness  they  earn  also  many  a  Upton  by  selling  papers  as 
well  as  lottery  tickets,  carrying  parcels  and  running  errands  ; 

146 


.  I  HI  NS    FROM    I  HE    PROPY)  I  I   M 
m  a  photograph  by  the  Author) 


Urban  and  Social  Life  147 

and,  when  their  day's  work  is  done,  evening  finds  a  goodly 
number  assembled  at  the  night-schools  provided  for  boys  of 
this  industrial  class. 

An  ancient  crone,  wrinkled,  tanned  and  bent,  with  black 
handkerchief  tied  under  her  chin,  who  might  have  been 
Homer's  mother,  is  presently  overtaken  bearing  on  her  back 
in  a  dilapidated  hamper  the  wild  herbs  and  salad  stuffs 
gathered  at  early  morn  on  one  of  the  surrounding  hills.  Ten 
leptd  (Id.)  is  the  price  of  the  heaped-up  dishful  of  dgria  radikia 
she  now  disposes  of  to  a  customer.  To-day  being  a  fast-day, 
the  salad,  boiled  and  then  dressed  with  oil  and  lemon  juice 
— will  probably  constitute  the  most  important  dish  at  the 
midday  meal.  "  Cold,  cold  figs  !  "  cries  a  vendor  of  that 
delicious  fruit,  borne,  covered  with  broad  green  leaves,  in 
panniers  slung  over  a  donkey's  saddle,  implying  that  his 
wares  have  been  gathered  at  dawn,  fruit  being  considered 
unwholesome  if  heated  by  the  sun  before  being  plucked  ; 
and  as  he  passes  us,  an  islander  in  rustling,  baggy  blue 
breeches,  braided  jacket  and  close  cap  with  long  tassel, 
stops  him  to  purchase  a  pennyworth — as  many  as  will  lie 
on  his  broad  strong  hand. 

Though  the  Greeks  have  accepted  the  decimal  system  of 

Western  Europe  as  regards  the  coin  of  the  realm,  in  the 

matter  of  weights  and  measures  they  have 

,.,Tu,rklsh   „     shown   a  truly   Oriental   conservatism.     For 
Weights  3.nd 

Measures.  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  decimal 
system  was  imposed  by  a  State  ordinance 
as  long  ago  as  1836,  commerce  still  continues  to  be  carried 
on  to  a  great  extent  by  means  of  the  Turkish  oka  (about 
2f  lbs.  avoirdupois)  divisible  into  400  drdmia,  every  comes- 
tible— including  wine  and  oil — being  soldby  weight.  And 
the  equally  Oriental  irtxn  or  P™  (22|  inches)  still  reigns 
supreme  among  the  linendrapers  of  Greece,  as  among  those 
of  Constantinople  and  Smyrna. 

Among  the  Greeks  generally,  and  especially  in  the 
provinces  and  the  islands,  it  is  every  man's  ambition  to  own 


148  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

the  house  he  lives  in  and  transmit  it,  together  with  its  adjoining 
garden  and  vineyard,  to  his  descendants.  The  insecurity 
of  tenure  of  any  state-paid  post  which,  as  mentioned  in  a 
previous  chapter,  prevailed  during  so  many  decades  prior 
to  the  recent  reforms  introduced  by  M.  Venizelos,  by  creating 
a  large  class  of  migratory  employees  who  could  never  hope 
to  have  settled  homes  until  they  had  earned  their  pensions, 
resulted  in  a  large  demand  for  temporary  dwellings.  In 
the  provinces  rents  are  very  moderate,  but  at  Athens,  where 
the  demand  for  houses  is  ever  on  the  increase,  rents  tend  to 
increase  proportionately.  Annual  leases  are  the  rule,  the 
landlord  being  responsible  for  repairs  and  the  occupier  for  the 
house  tax  of  5  per  cent,  on  the  rental,  or  the  estimated  letting 
value  if  occupied  by  the  owner.  Tenants  of  yearly  houses 
would  appear  to  change  their  abodes  pretty  frequently,  as 
about  term  day — which  in  Greece  is  September  1st — endless 
loads  of  furniture  may  be  seen  on  their  way  from  one  house 
to  another. 

As  in  all  the  larger  centres  of  the  Levant,  gambling  is  a 
diversion  which  has  a  considerable  attraction  for  the  Greeks, 
and  more  especially  for  those  of  the  Capital, 
Gambling.  where  a  number  of  gambling  "  hells  "  are 
said  to  thrive.  The  institution  of  State 
lotteries,  even  for  such  praiseworthy  objects  as  archaeological 
exploration,  and,  more  recently,  for  the  increase  of  the  Greek 
Navy,  can  also  hardly  fail  to  have  the  undesirable  result  of 
encouraging  the  gambling  spirit  in  the  nation  generally. 
As,  however,  the  conversion  of  the  delightful  island  of  Corfu 
into  an  Oriental  Monte  Carlo — proposed  some  years  ago — was 
strongly  opposed  in  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom,  the  tendency 
of  the  nation  generally  would  seem  to  be  averse  to  gambling, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  vice  is,  so  far,  confined 
chiefly  to  certain  circles  in  the  capital.  Among  outdoor 
winter  amusements  at  Athens  that  most  in  vogue  among  the 
"  fashionable "  set  is  the  equestrian  sport  termed  "  fox- 
hunting," in  which  one  person  takes  the  part  of  the  "  fox  " 


Urban  and  Social  Life  149 

and   is  pursued    by   a  number  of  other  riders  who  are  the 
"hounds."     Race   meetings    are    also    held    in    summer  on 

the    Podoniphte    course    in    the  direction  of 
Sports'"         Mount  Parnes,    this    name    being    ironically 

applied  to  the  locality  on  account  of  its  lack  of 
water  and  consequent  terrible  dust.  Dust  is,  indeed,  the 
chief  characteristic  of  Athens  and  its  neighbourhood  generally 
in  the  dry  weather,  and  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  any  at  all 
adequate  measures  have  been  taken  by  the  municipal 
authorities  to  cope  with  it.  On  suburban  roads,  as  for 
instance  that  between  the  Piraeus  and  Athens,  the  writer  has 
seen  it  in  autumn  lying  six  inches  deep  ;  and  the  condition  of 
the  traveller  on  arriving  at  Athens  after  driving  in  an  open 
vehicle  through  five  miles  of  this  may  perhaps  be  better 
imagined  than  described. 

Lawn  tennis,  introduced  together  with  golf  by  the  foreign 
community  of  Athens,  is  also  popular  in  fashionable  circles, 

and  there   are     good    courts    at   the    club 
Athletics.        established  near  the  temple  of  the  Olympian 

Zeus.  Football  and  cricket  present  no 
attractions  to  the  youth  of  Greece,  and  the  latter  game, 
introduced  into  Corfu  during  the  British  occupation,  has 
gradually  died  out  even  there.  The  old  manly  sports  of 
wrestling,  "  putting  the  stone,"  etc.,  once  so  common  a 
feature  of  Greek  holiday  life,  now  survive  only  among  the 
denizens  of  remote  villages.  The  athletic  exercises  of  late 
years  made  compulsory  in  the  schools — which  already  seem 
to  have  improved  the  physique  of  the  rising  generation  to  a 
marked  degree — will,  however,  no  doubt  in  time  revive  a  liking 
for  manly  games  and  diminish  the  loafing  tendencies  hitherto 
characteristic  of  the  golden  youth  of  the  Greek  capital. 
For,  unlike  his  kinsmen  of  the  hill-regions  of  Greece,  who  are 
untiring  walkers,  the  average  Athenian,  like  South-European 
townsmen  generally,  will  never  put  himself  to  this  exertion 
if  he  can  possibly  drive,  or  ride  in  a  tram,  and  seems  unable 
to  understand  why  anyone  should  walk  for  pleasure.     The 


150  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

capital  is,  accordingly,  well  supplied  with  public  conveyances, 
the  little  two-horsed  carriages  which  ply  for  hire  in  the  streets 
and  carry  four  persons,  conveying  fares  up  and  down  Stadion 
Street  for  a  penny  a  head. 

Athens  has  no  public  park,  and  the  chief  promenades  of 

her    citizens    are    the    gardens    surrounding    the    Zappeion 

Institute,  those  adjoining  the  Royal  Palace, 

Promenades  anc*  t^ie  *ar§e  °Pen  sPace  beyond  known  as 
"  Constitution  Square,"  where  one  finds  the 
principal  hotels,  the  best  cafe,  and  Messrs.  Thos.  Cook  &  Son's 
useful  office.  This  square  constitutes  the  centre  of  outdoor 
life,  and  on  sunny  winter  afternoons  and  serene  summer 
evenings  hundreds  of  Athenians  saunter  up  and  down  or 
occupy  the  numerous  chairs  and  tables  which  impinge  on  the 
pavement  outside  the  cafe  Zacharatos.  Of  suburban  resorts, 
the  most  frequented  is  New  Phaleron,  on  the  Bay  of  that 
name,  connected  with  Athens  by  a  fine  road  called  after  that 
benefactor  of  the  nation,  the  late  M.  Syngros,  who  provided 
the  funds  for  its  completion.  Phaleron  is  now  not  only  the 
marine  suburb  of  the  capital  but  the  chief  watering-place  of 
Greece,  being  easily  reached  either  by  train  or  steam  tram. 
The  place  lacks  shade  certainly,  but  the  seaward  view  is  ex- 
quisite, and  the  bathing  delightful.  And  here,  in  the  summer 
months,  the  Athenian  gymnasts  may  be  seen  in  numbers, 
rowing,  diving,  and  swimming,  at  which  latter  exercises  they 
show  themselves  remarkably  expert. 

Athens  possesses  two  large  theatres,  the  more  modern  of 
which  was  erected  about  a  dozen  years  ago  with  funds  sub- 
scribed by  Greeks  domiciled  in  London  and  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  late  King,  who  also  contributed  to  its  support 
an  annual  subsidy  of  £4,000.  Constructed  on  the  model 
of  the  Theatre  Royal  in  the  Danish  capital,  it  is  comfortable 
and  well  appointed,  has  seating  accommodation  for  a  thousand 
persons,  a  fireproof  stage,  and  a  foyer  sufficiently  spacious  to 
serve  as  ball-room.  Here  a  permanent  company  is  maintained 
possessing  a  considerable  repertory,  and  a  variety  of  pieces 


Urban  and  Social  Life  151 

are  staged  during  the  course  of  each  winter  season.  The 
acting  is  also  very  creditable  notwithstanding  the  modest 
salaries  paid  to  actors,  even  of  the  first  rank,  and  French, 
German,  and  Italian  "  stars  "  also  visit  the  Greek  capital 
from  time  to  time.  With  the  arrival  of  the  warm  weather, 
when  the  regular  theatres  are  closed,  begins  the  season  of 
the  "  summer  theatres,"  of  which  a  number  are  to  be  found 
in  Athens  and  its  suburbs.  In  these,  light  comedy  is  usually 
provided  by  travelling  troupes,  both  native  and  foreign,  who 
during  the  winter  months  make  the  tour  of  the  other  cities 
of  the  Levant ;  farces  and  little  plays  by  minor  Greek 
dramatists  being  also  occasionally  represented. 

Provincial  theatres  are,  as  yet,  but  few  and  far  between. 
Corfu,  however,  possesses  two,  one  of  which,  erected  at  great 
expense,  is  admitted  to  be  the  finest  in  the  kingdom ;  and  at 
Hermoupolis,  the  new  capital  of  Syra,  may  be  found  both  a 
"  winter  "  and  a  "  summer  "  theatre.  Plays  produced  in 
Greece  must,  in  order  to  be  well  received,  be  of  good  moral 
tone,  as  the  nation  generally  has  no  taste  for  drama  of  a 
questionable  character,  and  foreign  artistes  who  offend  in 
this  respect  run  the  risk  of  being  pelted  off  the  stage. 

There  exist  in  Greece  no  establishments  answering  to  the 
public-houses  of  this  country  with  their  adulterated  and 
The  Greek  stupefying  beverages  and  debasing  atmos- 
Wine  Shop,  phere ;  and  though  cases  of  intoxication 
are  not  uncommon  among  men  of  the  labouring  class,  there 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  total  absence  of  the  habitual  drunken- 
ness which  degrades  so  considerable  a  proportion  of  the 
3ame  class  in  Western  Europe.  Nor  are  women  ever  seen 
in  Greek  wine-shops,  either  as  vendors  or  consumers.  The 
typical  "  public-house  "  of  Greece  is  a  small  tavern  owned 
by  the  man  behind  the  counter,  whose  stock-in-trade 
is  in  many  cases  the  product  of  his  own  vineyard  and 
winepress.  Adjoining  many  of  these  humble  wayside 
tavernas  are  gardens  roofed  with  spreading  vines  and  furnished 
with  rough  tables  and  rush-bottomed  chairs,  and  here  the 


152  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Greek  workman  or  labourer  spends  a  considerable  part  of 
his  evening  leisure,  but  at  little  cost,  and  as  a  rule  with  no 
bad  results.  For  a  penny  will  purchase  for  him  a  big  tumbler 
of  wine  and  a  handful  of  olives,  in  the  consumption  of  which 
he  may  spend  as  many  hours  as  he  pleases,  and  this  he  will 
probably  supplement  with  copious  draughts  of  pure  water. 
A  Greek  also  never  drinks  without  partaking  of  at  least  a 
modicum  of  food.  And  the  oinemboros  will  have  ready  on 
small  plates  a  variety  of  such  small  edibles  as  olives  and  chick- 
peas, haricot  beans,  cubes  of  young  cucumber,  or  green 
peppers,  fresh  cheese,  shell  or  dried  fish,  with  fruits  and  nuts 
according  to  season.  In  the  open  air,  with  the  leaves  rustling 
overhead,  the  Greek  workman  will  make  merry  for  hours 
over  his  pint  of  wine,  discussing  politics  with  his  companions, 
or  raising  his  voice  from  time  to  time  in  one  of  those  dismal 
ditties,  pitched  in  a  minor  key,  in  which  his  contentment  finds 
expression.  When  he  finally  decides  to  leave,  and  not  till 
then,  does  the  customer  offer  to  pay  his  score,  and  as  he  parts 
with  his  modest  dhekdra,  or  penny  piece,  a  cordial  "  good- 
night "  will  be  exchanged  between  him  and  his  genial  host. 
Food  and  wine  are  also  frequently  provided  by  the  same 
establishment,  the  bakal — as  a  grocer  and  chandler  is  still 

termed,  as  in  Turkish  times — frequently 
tnnGreeceSeS    combining  that  calling  with  tavern-keeping, 

when  his  shop  will  be  provided  with  chairs 
and  tables  for  the  accommodation  of  the  customers  seeking 
refreshment,  these  being  by  no  means  always  of  the  humbler 
classes,  for  a  Greek,  whatever  his  station  in  life,  is  always 
ready  to  sit  down  and  talk.  A  cookshop  also  often  forms 
part  of  the  premises  of  a  bakal,  who  lets  off  a  room  or 
garden  to  a  cook.  Or  a  cook  will  go  into  the  same  kind 
of  partnership  with  a  vintner  who  supplies  table  wine  for 
the  customers  of  the  cookshop.  Such  a  combined  provision 
and  wineshop  will  be  found  in  every  village,  at  which 
the  traveller,  if  not  too  exclusive  in  his  gastronomic  tastes, 
may  satisfy  his  hunger  and  thirst,  the  bakal    being  quite 


Urban  and  Social  Life  153 

as  likely  to  extol  the  local  spring  as  to  vaunt  his  own 
retsindto ;  for  the  Greeks  are  as  great  connoisseurs  of  "  Adam's 
ale "  as  are  their  Turkish  neighbours,  and,  like  them, 
distinguish  between  "light"  and  "heavy"  varieties.  The 
piece  de  resistance  of  a  Greek  bill  of  fare  is  almost  invariably 
lamb — lamb  stuffed  with  rice,  currants,  and  koukoundria,  or 
pine-kernels,  and  roasted  whole  on  the  spit  in  brigand  fashion, 

boiled  lamb,  or  ragout  of  lamb  in  which  figure 
Cookery.        various  succulent  vegetables,  as  also  in  their 

turn  such  fruits  as  quinces  and  prunes. 
Macaroni  and  pilaf  are  also  common  dishes,  though  the  latter 
as  prepared  in  Greece  compares  very  unfavourably  with  the 
product  of  the  cookshops  of  Smyrna  and  Stamboul.  Most 
excellent  likewise  are  the  young  vegetable  marrows  filled  with 
a  farci  of  rice,  minced  lamb  and  savoury  herbs,  and  especially 
when  smothered  in  a  sauce  of  golden  hue  composed  of  yolk  of 
egg  and  lemon  juice,  the  form  in  which  they  are  usually 
presented  to  the  hungry  guest.  Among  the  array  of  edibles 
displayed  in  the  open-fronted  shop  of  the  bakal  is  usually 
found  a  block  of  that  popular  and  excellent  sweetmeat  helvd, 
a  compound  of  crushed  sesame  seed  and  honey  of  a  peculiar 
flaky  consistency,  on  a  halfpenny  worth  of  which,  eaten  with 
a  piece  of  bread,  a  Greek  working  man  will  contentedly  dine. 
Honey,  which  is  plentiful  and  usually  of  excellent  quality, 
is  largely  employed  in  the  Near  East  in  the  preparation  of 
native  sweets  and  cakes  in  lieu  of  sugar,  unobtainable  in 
Greece  at  less  than  9d.  per  pound,  owing  to  the  high  duty, 
and  only  used  as  a  great  luxury  for  sweetening  coffee. 

The  cakes  and  sweet  dishes  of  the  Greeks,  which  are  excellent, 
are  for  the  most  part  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Turks  and 

Armenians,  and   known   by   Turkish   names, 
Dishes.         but  are  onty  f°und  at  their  best  in  private 

houses,  where  they  are  prepared  with  great 
care,  frequently  by  women  who  make  a  living  by  going  from 
house  to  house  for  this  purpose.  Among  these  cakes  may  be 
mentioned    baklavd    and    kataif.     The    former   is    composed 


154  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

of  innumerable  layers  of  the  lightest  puff-paste,  laid  one  by 
one  in  a  shallow  copper  baking-pan,  honey  and  almonds 
being  spread  between  every  few  layers ;  and  the  latter  of  a 
kind  of  soft  home-made  vermicelli  formed  into  little  rolls 
which  are  baked  brown  in  the  oven,  the  contents  being  either 
fruit  preserve  or  goats' -milk  cheese.  Compotes  of  fruit  also 
figure  largely  in  the  daily  menus  of  private  families  of  the 
better  class.  The  preserves  termed  collectively  glyko — 
elsewhere  alluded  to  as  being  invariably  served  to  callers — 
are  also  most  carefully  prepared  by,  or  under  the  immediate 
superintendence  of  the  lady  of  the  house.  One  of  the 
commonest  as  well  as  the  most  delicious  is  made  with  the 
morella  cherry,  or  sultana  grape  ;  and  among  the  choicer 
and  more  luscious  varieties  are  conserves  of  rose-petals 
— rodozdchari,  of  tiny  bergamot  oranges  floating  in  a  clear 
sugar  syrup,  of  kolokjthi — an  attentuated  species  of  vegetable 
marrow,  cut  into  narrow  strips  and  blended  with  honey 
and  almonds,  and  a  mysterious  compound  flavoured  with 
mastic,  like  white  ice-cream  in  appearance,  the  ingredients 
and  mode  of  preparation  of  which  I  have  hitherto  failed  to 
ascertain. 

Hotels  are,  of  course,  now  to  be  found  in  all  the  seaports  and 
larger  towns  of  Greece,  and  at  Athens  there  are  at  least  two 

de  premier  ordre.     The  latter  are,  however, 
"  s5ee6lS'  '°f      patronised    chiefly    by    foreigners.     For    the 

humbler  class  of  folk  whom  business  or 
pleasure  occasionally  brings  to  town  there  are  hostelries 
termed  "  Hotels  of  Sleep,"  where  no  meals  are  served,  the 
guests  providing  themselves  with  food  at  one  or  other  of  the 
cookshops  always  found  close  by.  These  hostelries  are 
usually  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railway  stations,  and  together 
with  those  which  in  the  provincial  towns  provide  accommoda- 
tion of  the  same  class,  are  a  survival  of  the  han  of  Turkish 
days,  modernised  to  the  extent  of  providing  such  amenities 
as  beds  and  towels,  slippers,  and  even  hair-brushes.  The 
foreigner,     however,     is    seldom    under    the    necessity    of 


Urban  and  Social  Life  155 

availing  himself  of  these  caravanserais — which,  to  him,  will 
probably  present  many  drawbacks.  For  he  will  almost  certainly 
have  taken  the  precaution  of  obtaining  letters  of  introduction 
to  the  demarch  or  some  other  notable  of  the  locality,  or,  it 
may  be,  to  the  prior  of  a  neighbouring  monastery  where  he 
will  be  hospitably  welcomed,  and — if  lucky  enough  to  arrive 
at  a  season  when  the  good  Fathers  are  not  observing  one  of 
their  rigorous  fasts — entertained  with  the  best  fare  at  the 
disposal  of  the  convent.  The  Hellene  is  indeed  uniformly 
courteous  to  the  foreigner,  and  especially  if  he  be  of  British 
nationality  ;  and  there  is  in  Greece  a  notable  absence  of  that 
expectation  of  tips  so  prevalent  in  the  neighbouring  Italian 
peninsula,  as  in  the  majority  of  tourist-overrun  countries. 
The  Greek  language,  indeed,  appears  to  possess  no  name  for 
this  institution,  for  which  the  Turkish  term  bakshish  has  to  do 
duty.     In  provincial  towns,  as  also  in  the  islands,  well-to-do 

tradespeople    and    others    will,    where    there 
Hospitality       's  no  decent  mn>   gladly  take  the  traveller 

into  their  houses,  cook  for  him  their  choicest 
dishes,  and  place  their  services  in  everyway  at  his  disposal; 
while  the  village  priest  deems  it  a  favour  when  his  poor 
hospitality  is  accepted,  and  even  the  peasant  will  offer  the 
fruits  of  his  garden  and  a  draught  of  wine  of  his  own 
vintage. 

Hospitality  in  the  shape  of  entertaining  friends  and  neigh- 
bours at  one's  own  table  has,  on  the  other  hand,  no  place  in 
Greek  social  life — save,  of  course,  among  the  Europeanised 
elite  of  the  Capital.  One  may,  for  instance — as  in  the  writer's 
own  experience, — be  for  years  on  quite  intimate  terms  with 
Greek  families  without  ever  being  bidden  to  partake  of  either 
luncheon,  dinner,  or  tea  with  them.  On  one  occasion  I  was 
asked  by  a  Greek  friend  to  a  birthday  tea  she  was  giving  for 
her  young  son  and  his  little  playmates  ;  but  though  my 
presence  at  this  function  involved  a  journey  into  the  suburbs, 
my  share  of  the  entertainment  consisted  in  watching  the 
little  lions  feed,  for  neither  a  cup  of  tea  nor  a  slice  of  the 


156  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

birthday  cake  came  my  way  or  the  way  of  my  companion, 
whose  hospitality  the  hostess  herself  frequently  enjoyed. 
On  meeting  the  same  lady  some  years  later  in  England, 
however,  she  appeared  to  have  adapted  herself  to  her  new 
environment,  and  showed  herself  quite  as  hospitable  as  the 
average  Briton.  Hospitality  as  understood  in  the  West, 
must  not,  therefore,  be  looked  for  in  Greece,  it  being  contrary 
to  the  customs  of  the  country.  Light  refreshments  are,  of 
course,  served  at  christenings,  weddings,  and  such  ceremonial 
functions,  and,  as  in  Turkey,  one  never  pays  a  call  without 
being  offered  glykd  and  Turkish  coffee — but  that  is  the  limit. 

The  construction  of  railways  in  a  country  so  intersected 
with  mountain  ranges  as  Greece  has  naturally  been  a  very 

costly  undertaking,  and  previous  to  1869, 
in^reeof       when  a  short   line  connecting  Athens  with 

the  Piraeus  was  opened,  the  kingdom 
possessed  no  railway  communication  whatever.  All  journeys 
to  places  within  a  moderate  distance  of  the  coast  had  conse- 
quently to  be  made  by  sea,  and  even  now  the  coasting  steamer 
is  the  most  popular  mode  of  conveyance.  This  local  passenger 
traffic  is,  however,  exclusively  by  the  Greek  lines  of  steamboats 
which  possess  the  monopoly ;  and  the  disregard  of  time 
tables,  together  with  the  irregularity  of  their  intinerary — 
which  depends  entirely  on  the  cargo — prevent  European 
travellers  making  sea  journeys  save  when  visiting  the 
islands,  at  which  hardly  any  of  the  foreign  lines  of  steamers 
call.  Nor  do  the  native  steamboats  ever  lie  alongside  the 
quays,  but  anchored  at  a  little  distance,  thus  respecting  the 
time-honoured  privileges  of  the  local  boatmen  to  take  their 
toll  also  of  the  traveller,  however  humble.  At  the  present  day, 
however,  Greece  possesses  at  least  half-a-dozen  different 
railway  systems,  respectively  constructed  (1)  at  the  cost  of  the 
State,  (2)  by  independent  private  enterprise,  and  (3)  by  private 
capital  with  a  kilometric  guarantee  from  the  Government, 
which  takes  a  share  of  the  profits.     One  of  these  systems, 


Urban  and  Social  Life  157 

ides  making  the  complete  circuit  of  the  Peloponnesos, 
has  branches  connecting  most  of  the  important  towns  and 
places  of  archaeological  interest  in  the  peninsula  with  the 
Capital.  Northern  Greece  has  also  now  three  distinct  systems 
of  which  that  of  the  Thessalian  Company  has  the  reputation 
oi  being  th<  best  both  as  regards  rolling  stock  and  punctuality 
of  service. 

Nearly  all  these  lines,  in  common  with  those  of  Southern 

Greece,  afford  the  traveller  glimpses  of  magnificent  mountain 

scenery.     The  Kalavryta  branch,  for  instam  <  . 

Railways        which  connects  that  town  with  Diakophto — 

the  only  cogwheel  railway  in  Greece  and  a 

splendid  piece  of  engineering, —winds  through  a  deep  gorge, 

crossing  and  recrossing  the  ravine  by  bridges  at  dizzy  heights, 

darting  through  tunnels  in  mountain  sides  clad  with  forests 

of  oak  and  pine,  and  spreading  before  the  traveller's  delighted 

,^raze  a  panorama  of  ever-changing  grandeur  and  beauty. 

One  peculiarity  of  Greek  railways  is  the  lack  of  proper 
-t.it ion  accommodation  and  supervision,  as  also  of  any 
protection  by  means  of  fences  or  otherwise  of  the  lines  even 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  towns.  Travelling  from  Athens  to 
Patras,  for  example,  as  the  train  slows  down  on  nearing  the 
latter  town  where  the  line  passes  through  the  streets  to  the 
I  at  ion — or  rather  stopping  place,  a  mere  shed  for  the  col- 
liction  of  tickets — a  noisy  swarm  of  hotel  touts,  porters 
and  loafers  crowd  the  platforms,  free  fights  over  the  passengers 
and  their  luggage  being  by  no  means  uncommon  when  at 
last  the  train  comes  to  a  standstill.  Neither  is  great  speed 
at  any  time  attained  on  these  railways.  But  we  are  in  the 
East,  where  time  is  no  object  and  no  one  ever  in  a  special 
hurry.  The  management  of  the  pabsenger  department, 
however,  leaves  little  to  complain  of,  the  officials  are  specially 
courteous  to  the  foreigner,  the  fares  are  not  exhorbitant, 
and  the  refreshment  buffets  are  now  fairly  numerous.  In 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Capital  there  exist  also 
considerable    railway    facilities    for    reaching   the    suburbs, 


158  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  steam-trams  run  to  Old  and  New  Phaleron.  The 
attempt  made  some  years  ago  to  introduce  motor  omnibuses 
proved  a  failure  ;  and,  save  in  the  Capital,  private  motor- 
cars are  as  yet  unknown  in  the  country,  having  there  been 
introduced  either  by  members  of  the  Royal  Family  or  by 
foreign  residents. 

In  the  country  districts  the  usual  vehicle  for  passenger 
conveyance     is   the   sousta,   an   uncovered   light   spring-cart 

which     carries     four     persons,     its     brilliant 
Travd7         colouring  recalling  the  painted  carts  of  Sicily. 

The  artistic  decoration  of  a  sousta,  however, 
consists  merely  of  a  human  hand  with  outstretched  forefinger 
painted  on  one  or  both  sides,  probably  a  talisman  against  the 
"  Evil  Eye,"  though  the  Greek,  when  questioned  on  the  subject, 
is  loth  to  admit  the  superstition.  While  the  roads  of  Greece 
have  greatly  improved  during  the  last  half  century,  the  nature 
of  the  country  renders  many  parts  still  inaccessible  to  wheel 
traffic.  If  one  travels  at  all  away  from  the  beaten  track 
it  will  generally  be  necessary  to  avail  oneself  of  the  services 
of  an  agoydte,  as  the  attendants  on  hired  saddle-beasts  are 
termed.  In  hilly  or  mountainous  districts  the  mule  is, 
indeed,  the  only  available  means  of  conveyance,  and  must 
often  be  had  recourse  to  in  many  parts  of  the  interior  where 
the  roads  are  still  mere  bridle-paths  on  torrent  beds.  The 
muleteer  is  usually  a  chatty,  communicative  fellow,  who 
walks  alongside,  the  goad  he  carries  in  his  hand  making  little 
difference  to  the  rate  of  progress,  which,  whether  going  uphill 
or  downhill,  seldom  exceeds  three  miles  an  hour.     Donkeys 

are  also  very  numerous,  both  on  the  mainland 
ineGr°"ceey     and  in  the  islands;     but,    unlike  the   saddle 

donkeys  of  Alexandria  and  Smyrna,  they 
are  usually  very  small,  though  of  late  some  attempts  have 
been  made  to  improve  the  breed  by  the  introduction  of 
foreign  varieties.  They  are  also  largely  used  as  pack-animals, 
all  kinds  of  merchandise,  from  garden-stuffs  and  grain-sacks 
to  building  materials,  being  transported  on  the  backs  of  these 


Urban  and  Social  Life  159 

much  abused,  but  patient  and  useful  little  beasts  of  burden. 
In  the  island  of  Andros,  which  possesses  no  wheeled  con- 
veyance of  any  description,  the  donkey  is  also  called  upon  to 
perform  the  function  of  dust-cart,  the  refuse  of  the  streets  being 
thrown  into  huge  panniers  slung  on  either  side  of  his  wooden 
saddle.  Save  at  more  civilised  Syra,  where  the  saddle  don 
are.  as  at  Smyrna,  supplied  with  a  smart  carpet-covered  sella 
studded  with  brass-headed  nails  at  peak  and  crupper,  the 
rider  also  must  bestride  the  high  wooden  samdri  similar  to 
that  carried  by  the  beasts  of  burden,  for  which  a  loop  of  rope 
does  duty  as  stirrup,  another  serving  for  rein.  But  the 
hempen  headstalls  of  donkeys,  mules,  and  horses  alike  will 
invariably  be  found  decorated  with  strings  of  blue  glass 
beads  as  charms  against  the  baleful  influence  of  that  most 
dreaded  of  all  occult  powers — the  "  Evil  Eye." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

FESTAL  LIFE 

The  observances  connected  with  the  numerous  festivals 
of  the  Greek  Church  play  an  important  part  in  the  social 
life  of  the  country.  Utilitarians  may 
^olfdays  °  exclaim  against  their  frequency  and  the 
consequent  interruptions  to  business  occa- 
sioned by  them.  Seekers  after  the  picturesque,  on  the  other 
hand,  would  regret  to  see  them  fall  into  desuetude,  consecrated 
as  these  festivals  are  by  traditions  extending  in  some  cases 
over  2,000  years.  And  among  the  peasant  population, 
at  least,  these  time-honoured  customs  are  likely  long  to  endure. 
For  religion,  in  its  outward  forms,  at  any  rate,  still  possesses 
as  firm  a  hold  as  ever  on  the  nation  generally,  and  a  Greek 
would  as  soon  think  of  feasting  on  a  fast  day  as  of  failing  to 
honour  by  abstinence  from  labour  any  of  the  Saints'  Days 
of  the  Calendar.  If  requested  by  a  foreign  employer  to  per- 
form any  pressing  service  on  such  a  festival,  the  workman's 
reply  is,  "  We  dare  not,  Afendi,  the  Saint  would  strike  us  !  " 

Though  Christmas  is,  with  the  Orthodox,  a  much  less 
important  festival  than  Easter  or  the  New  Year,  it  is  every- 
where in  Greece  celebrated  with  various 
Christmas  observances,  some  of  which  are  peculiar  to 
the  season,  and  others  similar  to  those 
attending  all  the  greater  Church  festivals.  Carollers  pervade 
the  streets  on  Christmas  Eve  singing  their  odes  descriptive 
of  the  incidents  which  attended  the  wondrous  events  of  the 
"  Christ  -births, " x  carrying  little  boat-shaped  collecting- 
boxes  for  the  coins  expected  in  return  for  the  good  wishes 
to  the  archontes  with  which  these  odes  invariably  terminate. 

Among  the  peasants  of  Albanian  origin  Christmas  is, 
however,  observed  with  ceremonies  that  recall  those  of  more 
northern    countries    as  well  as  with  others  similar  to  those 

1  to  xpurTovyzwa, 

160 


Festal  Life  161 

of  the  Vlach  and  Bulgarian  neighbours  of  the  Greeks.      In 
the  Albanian  villages  the  housewife  will  make,  in  addition  to 

other  sweet  cakes,  a  batch  in  the  shape  of  rings 
Christmas  which  are  called  kolendhra,  the  one  first 
Customs.        shaped  being  termed  the  "  cake  of  the  oxen," 

this  being  hung  on  the  wall  of  the  byre 
"  for  luck."  There  it  is  allowed  to  remain  until  the  farmer 
has  yoked  his  oxen  for  the  spring  ploughing,  when  it  is  taken 
down  and  broken  on  the  yoke,  the  pieces  being  divided 
between  the  pair.  Fire  ceremonies  also  play  an  important 
part  in  the  Christmas  observances  of  the  Albanian  peasantry, 
and  on  Christmas  Eve  a  great  log  is  brought  into  the  house  at 
sunset,  when  all  the  members  of  the  family  rise  to  greet  it 
with  the  words,  "  Welcome,  our  log ! — God  has  destined 
thee  for  the  fire.  Bring  with  thee  good  luck  to  us  and  to  our 
beasts!"  Before  the  family  sit  down  to  supper  a  spoonful 
of  food  from  every  dish  provided  is  placed  upon  the  burning 
log.  Some  branches  of  a  cherry-tree  are  also  put  on  the  fire, 
and,  when  half  consumed,  are  removed  and  kept  till  the 
Eve  of  Epiphany,  when  they  are  again  thrown  on  the  hearth, 
the  ashes  being  on  the  following  day  strewn  on  the  vineyards 
to  ensure  a  good  harvest. 

The  Greek  New  Year's  Day  is  dedicated  to  St.  Basil,  who, 

like  St.  George,  is  specially  connected  in  popular  and  religious 

St         r        *egend    with    Caesarea — or,  as  it    is    locally 

Day.  called,  Kaisariyeh — in  Cappodocia ; 1  and  on 

the  Eve  of  St.  Basil  children  go  from  house 
to  house  singing  odes  in  honour  of  the  Saint,  which  invariably 

1  Pilgrimages  are  made  twice  a  year  by  the  Orthodox  to  the  monas- 
tery of  this  saint,  situated  on  a  mountain  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Caesarea,  the  first  on  Saturday  in  Holy  Week,  and  the  second  at 
Pentecost,  and  to  the  preformance  of  this  religious  duty  the  following 
beliefs  are  attached  :  If  the  pilgrimage  is  made  barefooted,  it  absolves 
the  penitent  from  any  special  sin  that  may  be  troubling  his  mind.  If 
made  seven  times  on  foot  during  a  person's  lifetime,  it  ensures  the 
forgiveness  of  all  his  sins.  And  to  partake  of  the  Eucharist  at  the 
monastery  church  is  deemed  far  more  meritorious  than  to  observe 
this  rite  at  the  church  at  Caesarea  dedicated  to  St.  Basil, 
n— (2385) 


162  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

conclude  with  some  complimentary  lines  to  the  occupants, 
wishing  them  "  A  good  year,"  and  requesting  largesse.  St. 
Basil  is  described  in  these  songs  as  a  school-boy  whose  touch 
quickens  inanimate  objects  with  new  life,  as  in  the  following — 

"  The  month's  first  day,  the  year's  first  day,  the  first  of  January, 
The  circumcision  day  of  Christ,  the  day,  too,  of  St.  Basil  ! 
St.  Basil,  see,  is  coming  here,  from  Cappadocia  coming, 
A  paper  in  his  hand  he  holds,  and  carries  pen  and  inkhorn. 
With  pen  and  inkhorn  doth  he  write,  and  reads  he  from  the  paper. 
'  Say,  Basil,  say,  whence  comest  thou,  and  whither  art  thou  wending  ? ' 
'  I  from  my  home  have  now  come  forth,  and  I  to  school  am  going.' 
'  Sit  down  and  eat,  sit  down  and  drink,  sit  down  and  sing  thou 

for  us  !  ' 
'  'Tis  only  letters  that  I  learn,  of  singing  I  know  nothing.' 
'  O  then,  if  you  your  letters  know,  say  us  your  Alpha,  Beta,' 
And  as  he  leant  upon  his  staff,  to  say  his  Alpha,  Beta, 
Although  the  staff  was    dry    and    dead,  it  put  forth  shoots  and 
branches,"  etc. 

By  the  Athenians  the  Eve  of  St.  Basil  is  observed  as  a 
species  of  Saturnalia  which  in  some  of  its  aspects  recalls 
the  festival  of  the  "  Befana  "  at  Rome.  Throughout  the 
afternoon  of  this  day  Hermes  Street  more  especially  is  thronged 
with  pedestrians  of  all  ages  armed  with  rattles,  whistles, 
penny  trumpets  and  other  ear-torturing  devices,  and  passers- 
by  find  themselves  assailed  with  paper  confetti  and  other 
harmless  but  annoying  missiles.  Towards  evening  the 
boat-like  collecting-boxes  are  thrust  by  bands  of  youths 
at  every  well-to-do  person  met  with,  while  later  bands  of 
musicians  serenade  both  private  houses  and  hotels  with 
their  "  Song  of  St.  Basil,"  to  which  improvised  lines  are 
often  added  to  suit  each  particular  circumstance.  Those 
niggardly  with  their  largesse  on  such  occasions  may  indeed 
occasionally  be  exposed  to  no  very  gentle  criticism  by  these 
Hellenic  satirists.  Cakes  somewhat  similar  to  our  "  Twelfth- 
cakes  "  have  been  prepared  for  the  occasion 
6Qakeesar  s  in  every  household,  some  being  also  presented 
to  friends  and  neighbours,  and  towards 
midnight  are  cut  with  great  ceremony  by  the  head  of  the 
household.     Like  our  Twelfth-cakes,  they  also  contain  a  coin, 


Festal  Life  163 

varying  in  value  according  to  the  worldly  wealth  of  the 
family  ;  and  the  recipient  of  the  lucky  slice  containing  this 
may  look  confidently  forward  to  a  prosperous  year.  In 
some  localities  the  cake-cutting  ceremony  is  supplemented 
by  the  throwing  on  the  ground  of  a  pomegranate — the  emblem 
of  plenty — the  seeds  of  which  as  it  bursts  being  scattered  in  all 
directions. 

The  dawn  of  the  New  Year  is  heralded  by  the  sounding  in 
Constitution  Square  of  the  reveille  by  the  drums  and  trumpets 

of  the  garrison,   sunrise  being  subsequently 
CeremonyUS    greeted  by  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  from 

the  battery  on  the  "  Hill  of  the  Nymphs," 
and  the  streets  soon  resound  with  the  cheerful  strains  of 
military  bands.  Towards  ten  o'clock  the  King  and  the 
Royal  Family,  attended  by  their  bodyguard  of  Evzonoi, 
with  the  members  of  the  corps  diplomatique,  the  Ministers 
and  Deputies,  and  crowds  of  townsfolk  of  every  degree, 
betake  themselves  to  the  Metropolitan  Church,  at  the  doorway 
of  which  the  Archbishop  presents  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  to  each 
member  of  the  royal  party  who  in  turn  reverently  kiss  the 
sacred  book.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  Te  Deum  the  King 
returns  to  the  Palace  to  receive  the  New  Year  congratulations 
of  all  the  State  functionaries,  from  members  of  the  Holy 
Synod  and  Cabinet  Ministers  to  college  professors.  At  noon 
a  levee  is  held,  at  which  only  military  and  naval  officers 
attend  ;  and  half  an  hour  later  the  Queen  holds  a  drawing 
room — termed  in  Greek  besomdna,  or  hand-kissing — at  which 
some  of  the  ladies  of  the  Royal  family,  as  also  some  of  the 
company,  make  a  point  of  wearing  the  Greek  national  dress. 
The  afternoon  is  occupied  with  visits  and  card-leaving,  every- 
body being  occupied  in  wishing  everybody  else  not  "  a  Happy 
New  Year,"  but  "  many  years."  Bonamddes,  or  New 
Year's  gifts,  are  also  de  rigueur  between  friends,  the  shop 
windows  being  crowded  with  articles  suitable  for  presents, 
and  every  servant  and  shop  employee  expects,  and  receives, 
a  gift  of  money. 


164  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

The  next  great  Church  festival  is  that  of  the  Epiphany, 
or,  as  it  is  termed  by  the  Greeks,  the  "  Feast  of  the  Lights." 

On  this  day  also  takes  place  in  many  localities 
the6"  Lights0"  a   ceremony   termed   the    "Blessing   of    the 

Waters,"  which  is  perhaps  most  effective 
when  witnessed  in  the  picturesque  and  busy  harbour  of  Syra. 
On  the  Eve  of  this  festival  the  priests  go  round  their  parishes 
"  blessing  "  all  the  houses  with  holy  water,  a  sprig  of  sweet 
basil  being  used  as  aspergillus.  In  the  evening,  companies 
of  boys  carrying  lanterns  parade  the  streets  singing  "  Odes  " 
dramatically  describing  the  accomplishment  of  this  rite  on 
the  person  of  Christ,  receiving  in  return  for  their  songs 
the  usual  gifts  of  sweet  biscuits  and  leptd,  or  small  coins. 
The  following  literal  translation  of  one  of  these  quaint  odes, 
current  in  Ioannina — "  St.  John's  Town  " — may  serve  as  a 
specimen  of  this  class  of  religious  ballads. 

"  O  come  and  learn  the  wonder  great,  the  marvel  great  that  happened, 
How  Christ  did  condescend  for  men,  for  them  did  greatly  suffer  ; 
How  down  to  Jordan's  brink  He  went,  and  into  Jordan's  waters, 
With  the  desire  to  be  baptised  there  by  St.  John  the  Baptist. 
'  Come,  O  my  John,  come  hither  now,  do  thou  straightway  baptise 

me — 
For  in  this  awful  wonder  thou  mayst  serve  me  and  attend  me.' 
'  My  Lord,  I  all  unworthy  am  to  gaze  upon  Thy  beauty, 
Or  to  behold  the  holy  Dove  that  o'er  Thy  Head  is  hovering. 
Ah  Lord  !    'tis  not  for  sinful  me  to  touch  thy  Heaven-sent  Person, 
For  the  wide  earth  and  all  the  heavens  submit  them  to  Thy  orders.' 
'  Come  hither,  O  my  John,  to  me,  nor  do  thou  longer  tarry. 
For  to  this  Mystery  we  perform  thou  shalt  become  the  sponsor  !  ' 
Then  John  baptised  his  Lord  forthwith,  that  might  be  cleansed  and 

purged. 
The  sin  that  Adam  first  had  sinned,  and  that  it  might  be  cancelled  ; 
Confounded,  too,  that  Enemy,  foiled  that  Thrice-accursed  * 
Beguiler  of  Mankind,  in  Hell  enchained  to  dwell  forever  I  " 

By  eight  o'clock  on  the  morn  of  this  festival,  the  great 
Church  of  the  Transfiguration  at  Syra  will  be  densely  crowded 
with  the  Orthodox  of  all  sorts  and  conditions,  from  local 

1  This  is  a  very  common  name  for  Satan,  and  occurs  as  the  title 
of  a  Greek  folktale,  included  in  my  translations  of  Greek  Folkpoesy, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  99,  etc.,  and  Annotation  No.  21. 


Festal  Life  165 

dignitaries  in  dress  suits  and  white  ties,  to  rough  sailors  and 
fishermen.  On  a  platform  erected  in  the  nave  is  placed, 
adorned  with  leaves  and  branches,  a  pictorial  representation  of 
the  Baptism  of  Christ,  together  with  a  large  silver  bowl  of 
water  over  which  is  suspended  a  dove.  On  the  termination 
of  the  Liturgy  the  officiating  clergy  in  their  gorgeous  vest- 
ments, served  by  a  layman  in  swallow-tailed  coat,  mount  the 
platform,  and  the  Epistle  and  Gospel  of  the  day  are  read. 
The  bishop  or  archimandrite  then  blesses  the  bowl  of  water, 
. i Iter  which  there  ensues  a  rush  on  the  part  of  the  congregation 
to  secure  some  of  the  sanctified  fluid  in  the  cups  and  glasses 
with  which  they  have  come  provided.  A  procession  is  then 
formed,  a  band  strikes  up,  and  the  clergy, 

th^Waters  bearing  the  great  Cross  and  the  symbolical 
six-winged  angels  and  preceded  by  acolytes 
with  silver  censers  and  lamps,  move  majestically  down  to  the 
water-side  between  a  double  file  of  soldiers  with  fixed  bayonets. 
In  front  a  space  has  been  left  clear  of  the  shipping  which, 
moored  around,  is  gay  with  bunting  and  crowded  with  excited 
spectators.  The  bishop  then  casts  into  the  open  water  the 
•  Cross.  This  is  eagerly  dived  for,  seized,  struggled  for, 
captured  and  recaptured,  until  one  lucky  swimmer  finally 
succeeds  in  bringing  the  precious  object  to  land.  For  the 
rest  of  the  day  the  Cross  is  the  property  of  this  much  envied 
man  who,  escorted  by  a  number  of  his  friends,  carries  it 
through  the  streets  of  the  town,  receiving  contributions  in 
money  at  every  door  in  acknowledgment  of  his  feat.  As 
between  New  Year's  Day  and  the  "  Blessing  of  the  Waters  " 
which  is  held  to  ensure  the  setting  in  of  fine  weather — no 
sailing-master  will  steer  out  of  the  harbour  of  Syra,  it  is  at 
this  season  usually  crowded  with  shipping. 

The  Greek  observance  of  Carnival  varies  according  to 
locality,  and  it  is  only  in  the  Capital  and  the  larger  provincial 
towns  that  it  is  at  all  observed  as  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries.  During  the  last  week  of  this  festal  season  there 
may,  however,  be  seen  in  the  streets  of    \tliui..   in   addition 


166  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

to  the  usual  Carnival  features,  improvised  stages  on  which 
are  enacted  rude  little  dramas,  possibly  a  survival  of  Thespis 

and  his  cart ;  while  a  possible  reminiscence  of 
Customs.        tne  Bacchic  processions  may  be  found  in  the 

stage  camel  which  is  made  to  perambulate  the 
main  thoroughfares.  Every  evening  parties  of  men  in  fancy 
dresses  parade  the  streets  on  foot  or  in  carriages  with  music 
and  song,  and  according  to  accepted  custom,  may — as  also 
at  Smyrna — request  admission  to  any  house  if  vouched  for 
by  one  of  the  party,  usually  a  relative  or  friend  of  the  family. 
Sometimes  such  a  visit  is  expected,  and  provision  will  then  be 
made  beforehand  for  the  entertainment  of  these  self-invited 
guests.  In  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  last  Sunday  of 
Carnival — which  with  the  Greeks  constitutes  also  the  last 
day  of  that  season — Constitution  Square  is  the  nucleus  of 
gaiety,  being  crowded  with  masquers  on  foot  and  in  hired 
carriages,  for  which  exhorbitant  prices  are  charged,  the 
festivities  culminating  in  a  masked  ball  at  the  Theatre. 

The  first  day  of  Lent  is  termed  by  the  Greeks  "  Clean 
Monday,"  the  Orthodox  having  on  the  morning  of  this  day 

been    shriven  :     and    at    Athens   the    whole 
Monday  "       population    repairs    about    midday    to    the 

various  suburban  resorts  to  keep  the  simple 
festival  of  the  Koulouma.  The  groves  of  Kephisia  and  the 
hills  in  all  directions  are  thronged  with  family  parties  picnick- 
ing on  Lenten  fare  of  bread  and  olives,  and  in  the  afternoon 
the  shepherds  and  milkmen,  together  with  groups  of  fivzonoi , 
perform  their  country  dances  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Theseum 
and  the  Temple  of  the  Olympian  Zeus,  as  in  olden  days  did 
the  votaries  of  the  goat-footed  sylvan  deity. 

No  Greek  festival  approaches,  however,  in  importance  that 
of  Easter  in  which  the  various  solemnities  of  the  preceding 

Holy   Week   culminate.     The   Eve   of   Palm 
We°ek  Sunday  is  sacred  to  Lazarus,  and  the  songs 

sung  in  the  streets  on  this  occasion  present  a 
curious  medley  of  dialogue  between  Christ,  Martha,  Mary,  and 


?■  ■* 

Elj     -r 


Festal  Life  167 

Lazarus,  and  complimentary  speeches  and  good  wishes  to 
the  neighbours.  On  the  following  day,  which  is  called  Vaia, 
it  is  permissible  to  eat  a  certain  kind  of  fish  called  kolio, 1 
and  on  Holy  Thursday  every  housewife  boils  a  number  of 
eggs  with  cochineal  for  the  approaching  Easter  festival, 
and  bakes  a  quantity  of  cakes  and  sweet  biscuits,  many  of 
which  have  in  the  centre  one  of  these  dyed  eggs.  At  the  hour 
when  the  Gospels  are  read,  eggs  to  the  number  of  the  house- 
hold, including  the  servants,  and  one  over,  are  placed  in  a 
napkin,  and  carried  to  church  to  be  blessed  by  the  priest, 
the  supplementary  egg  being  laid  before  the  Eikonostasion, 
or  place  of  the  Holy  Pictures,  and  afterwards  kept  as  a 
remedy  against  all  kinds  of  ills.  Many  of  these  eggs  have 
traced  upon  them  in  elegant  characters  texts  of  Scripture 
and  other  sacred  words,  together  with  the  date. 

The  services  of  Good  Friday — "  The  Great  Friday,"   as 
it    is    termed    by    the    Orthodox — begin    before    midnight 

on    Thursday    when    the  so-called  "  Twelve 
Friday"*       Gospels  " — twelve   passages   relating   to   the 

Passion  selected  from  the  four  Gospels — are 
read,  while  on  "  the  Great  Friday  "  the  "  Great  Hours  " 
take  the  place  of  the  ordinary  Hours  in  the  services  of  the 
Church.  On  this  day  every  Orthodox  man,  woman  and 
child  visits  a  church  to  reverence  the  epitdphios,  a  silk  or  satin 
cloth  on  which  is  pictorially  represented  the  entombment  of 
the  Saviour,  stretched  on  a  sort  of  bier  placed  in  the  nave  and 
decorated  with  flowers.  The  first  time  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  witnessing  this  Easter  Eve  service  was  at  the  Metropolitan 
Church  at  Salonica,  while  still  an  Ottoman  city.  On  entering, 
we  were  conducted  to  stalls  facing  the  archiepiscopal  throne, 
where  sat  the  Archbishop  in  his  resplendent  sacerdotal  robes 

1  On  Palm  Sunday  children  may  be  heard  singing  a  ditty  which 
may  be  thus  rendered — 

"  Palm,  Palm,  Palm  Sunday, 
Kolid  fish  we  eat  to-day, 
And  when  comes  next  Sunday  round 
We'll  eat  red-dyed  eggs  so  gay  !  " 


168  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  mitre,  glittering  with  gold  and  gems.  Near  us  was 
extended  the  epitdphios  to  which  the  Orthodox  worshippers, 
as  they  entered  the  sacred  building,  advanced  reverently  to 
kiss  the  semblance  of  the  dead  Saviour.  Every  class  of  the 
Orthodox  community  was  represented  in  the  congregation, 
from  the  polished  Russian  and  Roumanian  diplomat  and 
Greek  notable  to  the  ragged  and  bare-footed  gamin,  who, 
unreproved  by  pompous  verger  or  beadle,  pushed  his  way 
through  the  throng  to  take  the  place  to  which,  as  a  son  of  the 
Church,  he  had  an  equal  right  with  every  other  worshipper. 
When  the  ritual  of  chant  and  prayer  had  been  performed, 
lighted  tapers  were  distributed,  the  dead  Christ  was  taken 
up  by  the  clergy,  and  carried  outside  and  round  the  walled 
courtyard  of  the  Church,  followed  by  the  whole  congregation. 
As  we  again  approached  the  great  western  doors,  after  making 
the  circuit  of  the  church,  the  light  of  the  many  tapers  disclosed 
what  we  had  not  previously  observed,  a  dozen  or  so  of 
zaptiehs  seated,  rifle  in  hand,  within  the  courtyard  gateway — 
the  guard  sent  by  the  Turkish  authorities  to  prevent  any  dis- 
turbance of  the  rites  of  the  Christians  by  the  Jewish  populace, 
here  made  bold  by  their  superior  numbers.  At  Athens,  how- 
ever, when  the  Easter  Eve  Burial  Dirge  has  been  sung,  the 
procession,  preceded  by  torchbearers  and  a  military  band  with 
muffled  drums  playing  appropriately  lugubrious  music,  issues 
from  every  church  of  importance.  On  its  route  the  windows, 
balconies,  and  in  some  cases  also  the  walls  of  the  houses  are 
illuminated.  The  priests  wear  their  most  gorgeous  vestments, 
one  carrying  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  from  which  he  at  intervals 
intones  a  passage,  another  bearing  aloft  the  Great  Cross. 
Behind  the  clergy  is  borne  the  sacred  Bier,  and  ever  and  anon 
rises  on  the  air  the  doleful  refrain  of  Kyrie  eleison  !  Kyrie 
eleison  f  All  the  spectators  in  the  streets  carry  lighted  tapers 
and,  as  the  procession  approaches,  raise  them  on  high, 
thus  giving  to  the  ceremonial  a  setting  of  enthusiastic 
solemnity. 

The  Resurrection  is  commemorated  by  the  Eastern  Church 


Festal  Life  169 

in  a  service  which  begins  shortly  before  midnight  on  Saturday, 

when  a  ceremony  takes  place  similar  to   that  performed  in 

the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem.     On  the  stroke 

of  midnight  the  Archbishop  or  chief  officiating 

The  priest  presents  to  the  congregation  a  lighted 

ReSMornti0n  taPer  with  the  words>  "Arise.  and  take  the 
flame  from  the  Eternal  Light,  and  praise 
Christ,  who  is  risen  from  the  dead  !  "  '  Truly  is  He  risen  !  " 
enthusiastically  respond  the  congregation  as  those  in  front 
eagerly  advance  and,  lighting  their  tapers  from  his,  pass  on  the 
flame  to  those  behind  them  until  the  taper  of  every  wor- 
shipper is  kindled.  And  then  through  the  church  resounds 
the  triumphant  Resurrection-song — 

"  Christ  has  arisen  from  the  dead, 
By  death  He  death  hath  trampled  on, 
To  those  laid  in  the  graves  Life  having  given  !  "  ' 

The  bells  now  ring  jubilantly,  cannon  and  small  arms  add 
to  the  glad  uproar  without,  and,  as  the  congregation  disperse, 
the  Easter  greeting,  "  Christ  is  risen,"  accompanied  by  a  kiss 
on  the  cheek,  is  given  by  one  friend  to  another,  responded  to 
by  another  kiss  and  the  words,  "  Truly  He  is  risen  !  " 

At  the  hour  of  early  Mass  the  churches  are  again  crowded 
with  worshippers  who  have  been  shriven  on  the  previous  day 
and  now  partake  of  the  Communion.  At  its  conclusion 
re  salutations  of  "  Christ  is  risen  "  are  exchanged  as  they 
wend  their  way  homewards  to  breakfast  on  red  eggs,  Easter 
rakes,  and  coffee.  The  Paschal  lamb  will  already  in  every 
household  have  been  slain  in  readiness  for  the  noontide  feast, 
and  its  blood  sprinkled  on  the  doorposts.  And  now,  as  an  old 
English  writer  says,  "  they  run  into  such  excesses  of  mirth 
and  riot,  agreeable  to  the  light  and  vain  humour  of  that 
people,  that  they  seem  to  be  revenged  of  their  late  sobriety, 

1    XptffrSs   ai'tffTT]   IK   vtKpu>v 
6a.vd.Ty   tia.va.-rov   irar^iroj 
Kal   to?!   iv  to?s   fivfjfiat   (a>)ii'   xapL°~'*-lJL(V0S- 


170  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  to  make  compensation  to  the  devil  for  their  late  temper- 
ance and  mortification  towards  God."1  The  day  is  given  up 
to  relaxation  and  feasting,  the  most  important  event  for 
the  women  and  girls  especially  being  the  public  promenade 
in  the  afternoon,  for  which  they  don  their  new  summer 
dresses,  the  preparation  of  which  has,  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed, much  occupied  their  minds  during  the  season  of 
mortification. 

The  Greeks  would  seem  to  have  assimilated  to  a  greater 
extent  than  any  other  Christian  nation  the  heathen  festivals 

and  observations  of  their  ancestors,  and  the 
Survivals        classical  genii   loci  have,  in  many  instances, 

only  slightly  changed  their  names.  At 
sanctuaries  formerly  dedicated  to  the  Sun  ('HTuo?),  homage 
is  now  paid  to  the  Prophet — or  rather  "  Saint  " — Elias, 
and  many  a  mountain  summit  and  sea-girt  promontory  is, 
as  of  old,  sacred  to  him.  Power  over  rain  is  also  attributed 
to  this  Saint,  and  in  time  of  drought  people  flock  to  his 
churches  and  monasteries  to  supplicate  the  Sun-god  in  his 
other  character  of  "  The  Rainy  (o/j,/3pto<i)  Zeus."  Athena, 
the  divine  Virgin  (irapOevos) ,  is  now  the  Panaghia 
{iravajLa),  the  "  All  Holy  "  Virgin  Mother,  who  has  also 
usurped  the  place  of  Eos,  the  Dawn  or  "  Mother  of  the  Sun," 
who  opens  for  him  the  gates  of  the  East.  The  Christian  cele- 
brations of  the  annual  festivals  of  these  saints  are,  conse- 
quently, in  many  cases  merely  survivals  of  pagan  anniver- 
saries, held  at  the  church  or  monastery  dedicated  to  the  saint 
who  has  replaced  the  heathen  divinity. 

At  the  more  celebrated  of  these  Paneghyria,  as  they  are 
termed,  a  kind  of  fair  is  held,  resorted  to  by  crowds  of  visitors 

from   the   country   round  and  the   adjacent 
"  Paneghfna."  townS)  wh0  may  be-  seen  wending  their  way 

along  the  mountain-paths  leading  to  the 
monastery,  men  and  women  mounted  on  mules  or  donkeys, 

1  Sir  Paul    Ricaut,  The  Present   State   of  the  Greek    and   Armenian 
Churches. 


Festal  Life  171 

or  leading  horses  laden  with  panniers  full  of  little  ones.  On 
arriving,  the  devotees  at  once  repair  to  the  church,  and, 
Eter  lighting  the  customary  taper,  their  first  care  is  to  pay 
to  the  shrine  of  the  Panaghia  or  other  tutelar  saint  any  vow 
which  they  may  have  made  during  the  past  year  in  earnest 
of  benefits  asked  or  received  through  his  or  her  mediation. 
These  offerings  often  take  the  shape  of  a  gold  or  silver  aureole 
for  the  eikon  of  the  Saint,  or  a  hand  or  arm  of  thin  silver, 
which  is  fastened  on  that  part  of  the  painting.  Gold  coins, 
too,  are  often  stuck  on  the  cheek  of  the  Panaghia,  and 
napkins,  embroidered  with  a  representation  in  gold  thread  of 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  presented  to  her  shrine  in  return  for 
favours  received.  As  the  accommodation  afforded  by  the 
neighbouring  villages  is  generally  quite  inadequate  for  the 
number  of  pilgrims,  many  sleep  in  the  church,  and  the  votive 
offerings  which  the  visitors  leave  behind  in  return  for  this 
indulgence  constitute  quite  a  little  revenue  for  the  monks  or 
priests  who  are  the  custodians  of  the  shrine. 

Their  pious  duties  accomplished,  the  pilgrims  turn  their 
attention  to  feasting  and  merry-making.  For  at  meal-times 
the  whole  company,  throwing  off  for  the  time  being  their 
ordinary  exclusiveness,  unite  in  a  gigantic  picnic  on  the 
-sward,  ihegood  things  they  have  brought  with  them 
being  supplemented  by  purchases  from  the  numerous  hawkers 
of  fruits,  sweets,  and  cakes  whom  such  an  event  is  sure  to 
attract  to  the  neighbourhood.  Dealers  in  other  wares,  too, 
are  not  lacking,  who  find  plenty  of  customers  among  the 
female  portion  of  the  assembly  for  their  gum-mastic,  combs, 
little  mirrors  and  cosmetics;  purchasers  of  the  last- 
mentioned  articles  may  occasionally  be  found  hidden  behind 
the  giant  bole  of  a  plane-tree  putting  a  few  finishing  touches 
to  their  eyes  or  cheeks  before  joining  in  the  revelry.  Music, 
>im:ing,  dancing,  and  story-telling  arc  the  chief  amusements, 
which  are  kept  up  to  what  is  considered  in  the  East  a  late 
hour.  At  dawn,  however,  they  are  all  astir  again  for 
early  Mass,  to  whit  h  they  are  summoned  by  the  convent 


172  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

bell,   or  the    s^mandro,1   a  suspended    board    struck    by  a 
mallet. 

Family  Paneghfria  are  also  celebrated  in  some  parts  of 

the  country  and   in  the  islands   on  the  "  name-day  "  of  the 

paterfamilias.     The  housewife  on  the  eve  of 

Beggar  'sCake  " tnis  dav  bakes  nve  loaves  which,  after 
having  been  taken  to  church  and  blessed, 
are  cut  up  and  distributed  to  the  poor.  On  certain  feast 
days  a  large  cake,  called  a  peta,  is  prepared  for  the  use  of  the 
family,  and  a  similar  one  is  made  for  the  beggars  who  may 
call  during  the  day.  To  refuse  a  piece  to  any  one  who  may 
ask  for  it  would,  it  is  believed,  bring  all  manner  of  misfortune 
to  the  house.  A  beggar  is,  indeed,  never  at  any  time  sent 
away  from  even  the  poorest  cottage  door  without  at  least 
3  handful  of  olives  or  an  onion.  And  I  have  heard  that, 
during  a  period  of  scarcity  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  grain 
harvest  in  Thessaly  some  years  ago,  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  a  beggar  to  exchange  the  pieces  of  bread  which  he 
had  received  at  the  doors  of  the  wealthy  for  some  fruit  or 
vegetables  from  a  cottager. 

The  Sacred  Fountains  (' Ay  ida  par  a)  have  also  their  yearly 

festivals,  held  on  the  day  dedicated  to  the  patron  saint  who 

has  supplanted  the  local  divinity.     Circum- 

Fountains        stances    of    various    import    have    conferred 

upon    many    springs    within    the    walls    of 

Constantinople  the  reputation  of  possessing  healing  power, 

but  a  romantic  and  solitary  situation  in  the  neighbourhood 

of  a  cavern  or  grotto  is  the  usual  characteristic  of  an  'Aghiasma. 

On  the  occasion  of  these  festivals,  multitudes  flock  to  the 

fountains,  bringing  with  them  their  sick  to  drink  the  waters. 

1  Various  writers  on  Greece  and  Turkey  have  asserted  that  the 
use  of  the  symandro  is  due  to  the  prohibition  of  bells  by  the  Turks. 
That  the  sfmandro  was  however  in  common  use  prior  to  the  Turkish 
conquest  is  illustrated  by  the  following  lines  from  a  contemporary  Greek 
ballad  describing  the  Conquest  of  Constantinople — 

"  Haghia  Sofia  is  taken,  too,  they've  seized  the  famous  Minster 
Which  has  three  hundred  svmandm,  bells  sixty-two  of  metal." 


Festal  Life  173 

iii.-  e  springs  do  not,  however,  as  a  rule,  possess  medii  inal 
qualities,  but  owe  thrir  healing  virtues  solely  to  belief  in  the 
patronage  of  the  tutelar  saint.  The  shrubs  and  bushes  in  the 
vicinity  are  usually  found  decorated  with  tufts  of  hair  and 

naps  of  clothing,  affixed  as  reminders  by  suppliants  for 
the  saint's  favours.  The  caves  in  which  the  crystal  drops 
of  water  appear  to  be  distilled  from  the  living  rock  were 
no  less  delighted  in  by  the  nymphs  of  antiquity  than  were 
the  perennial  springs  ;  but  all  such  natural  temples  are  now 
appropriated  by  the  Virgin  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  a 
Panaghia  Spelaiotissa ,  or  "  Virgin  of  the  Grotto,"  now  receives 
from  the  Greek  peasant  women  honours  similar  to  those  paid 
in  classical  times  to  the  nymphs  of  whose  temples  she  ha 
usurped  possession. 

Tilt-  Feast  of  the  Annunciation,  on  which  the  Orthodox 

generally  make  high  holiday,  assumes  in  certain  localities 

the  character  of   a  Paneghyri,  and  especially 

DanynatCTen°os     at    Ten0S>    that    island    beinS   honoured   with 
the   possession   of   a   miracle-working   Virgin 

whose  image  was,  in   1821,  discovered  in  the  waters  of  a 

fountain   near   the   Cathedral   church   of   the   Evangelistria. 

Thither  flock  twice  every  year,  on  Annunciation  Day  and  on 

the  Feast   of  the   Assumption,   the   sick   and   the   afflicted, 

together    with   a   larger   number   of   those   who   are   whole. 

Already  on  the  eve  of  the  festival  the  courtyard  and  steps  of 

the  Cathedral  are  crowded  with  votaries,  while  down  in  the 

crypt  lie  huddled  in  their  rags  on  the  stone  floor  those  who 

hope  to  obtain  healing  by  passing  the  night  there  in  a  foetid 

atmosphere. l     Within  the  church  some  of  the  clergy  hold 

platters  for  contributions,   and  at   intervals,   crosses  to   be 

kissed  by  the  devout,  while  the  deacons  take  down  the  names 

of  those  desirous  of  participating  in  certain  special  ceremonies. 

Alter  nightfall,  the  church,  the  houses  of  the  little  town  and 

1  Cures  similar  to  those  effected  at  Lourdes,  are,  it  is  said,  of  not 
infrequent  occurrence  at  TenOG  ■  ben  the  disorder  is  merely  of  a  nervous 
charai  t<-i 


174  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

the  ships  in  the  harbour  scintillate  with  myriads  of  lights 
reflected  in  the  surrounding  waters,  while  in  and  around  the 
church,  as  also  in  the  streets  and  in  the  surrounding  gardens 
and  fields,  lie,  wrapped  in  their  cloaks,  singly,  or  in  family 
groups,  the  pilgrims  for  whom  no  accommodation  can  be 
found  in  the  overcrowded  inns  and  private  houses. 

At  dawn  all  this  great  concourse — which  not  infrequently 
numbers  some  60,000  souls— are  already  astir  and  performing 
their  religious  duties  preliminary  to  the  chief  function  of 
Annunciation  Day,  the  grand  procession.  With  crosses, 
banners,  swinging  censers  and  chanting  priests  in  gorgeous 
vestments,  it  emerges  from  the  church,  descends  the  wide 
marble  steps  between  the  marble  lions  of  St.  Mark — a  legacy 
of  Venetian  rule, — winds  slowly  through  the  streets  of  the 
little  town  down  to  the  shore  and  back  to  the  sacred  portals, 
amidst  a  surging  crowd  of  the  Orthodox  representing  many 
different  types,  and  an  even  greater  divergence  of  costume. 
For  as  this  festival  at  Tenos  draws  pilgrims  not  only  from  the 
Greek  mainland  but  from  all  the  coastlands  and  islands  of 
the  iEgean  between  Crete  and  Constantinople,  it  offers  the 
most  favourable  opportunity  possible  for  obtaining  an  idea 
of  how  varied  and  picturesque  was  national  costume  generally 
in  the  East  in  the  first  half  of  last  century.  With  the  return 
of  the  procession  to  the  church  the  crowd  breaks  up,  and  its 
various  elements  abandon  themselves  to  the  above  described 
diversions,  which  are  common  to  all  Paneghyria. 

The  sacred  banner  of  Greek  Independence  having  been  in 
1821   unfurled  at   Kalavryta  by  Bishop  Germanos  on  the 

Feast  of  the  Annunciation,  this  festival  is 
"  Ind^n,c!ence  made  by  the  Hellenes  generally  the  occasion 

of  a  double  celebration,  national  as  well  as 
religious.  In  Athens,  for  instance,  eloquent  patriotic 
addresses  are  annually  delivered  to  various  gatherings  of 
townsfolk,  there  is  great  firing  of  cannon  from  the  batteries 
of  the  city,  flags  flutter  in  the  breeze  in  all  directions,  while  in 
the  Cathedral  a  solemn  commemorative  service  takes  place,  at 


Festal  Life  175 

which  the  King  and  Royal  Family  attend  in  state.  A  levee  is 
subsequently  held  at  the  Palace  at  which  all  the  notabilities 
of  Athenian  Society,  native  and  foreign,  and  all  the  elm  I 
State  functionaries,  civil  as  well  as  naval  and  military, 
assemble,  as  on  New  Year's  Day,  to  pay  their  respects  to  tin 
Hellenic  monarchy. 

St.  George  being  the  patron  saint  of  the  Greeks,  his  festival 

is  also  duly  honoured.     During  the  reign  of  the  late  King, 

whose  name  day  it  of  course  was,  St.  George's 

Day"8*  ''      ^ay  rece^ve(i  at  Athens  additional  honours. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  his  distinguished 

position  in  Orthodox  haghiology,  St.  George  is,  in  the  popular 

songs  and  stories  relating  to  him,  chiefly  remarkable  for  his 

exceedingly  acquisitive  disposition  and  amenability  to  bribery 

in  the  shape  of  oil  and  candles,  ever  ready  to  give  his  saintly 

aid  to  the  highest  bidder  for  it  whether  implored  by  human 

beings  or  animals,  and  whether  for  a  good  purpose,  or  for 

one  in  the  highest  degree  questionable. 

The  chief  diversions  of  the  pilgrims  and  holiday-makers 
on  these  festive  occasions,  as  also  of  the  rural  population  at  all 
times,  are  dancing  and  singing  ;  for  the  dance  and  the  song 
are  still  at  the  present  day  as  common  characteristics  of 
^unny  Hellas  as  they  were  in  olden  times.  In  the  larger  towns 
and  in  some  of  the  islands  the  dances  in  vogue  are  more  or 
less  those  of  Europe  generally.  But  in  the  rural  districts 
the  native  dances  are  still  popular,  the  most  common  varietii  s 
of  these  being  the  Syrtos,  the  Tsamikos,1  and  the  Leventikos, 
all  of  which  are,  as  a  rule,  danced  in  the  open  air.  In  the  first , 
in  which  both  men  and  women  take  part,  either  together  or 
separately,  the  dancers  stand  in  a  curved  line  connected  by 
handkerchiefs  of  which  each  holds  a  coi  ner.  The  steps  are  few 
and  the  movements  slow  and  sedate,  the  women  and  girls 
invariably  'lancing  with  modest  mien  and  downcast  eyes. 
The  leader,  who  stands  at  the  right  extremity  of  the  line, 

1  The  dance  of  the  Tsarns  ui  C  hams,  as  the  southern  Albanians  are 
termed. 


176  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

draws  it  this  way  and  that,  the  figures  of  the  dancers  swaying 
with  the  rhythm  of  the  accompanying  song.  At  Megara  and 
some  other  places  this  dance  is  varied  by  the  hands  of  the 
performers  being  linked  together  across  each  alternate  dancer, 
the  leader  grasping  with  her  left  hand  the  left  hand  of  her 
neighbour  who,  with  her  right  hand  takes  the  right  hand  of 
the  third,  and  so  on.  This  method  is  termed  the  klistos  horos, 
or  "  closed  dance,"  and  men,  married  women  and  girls  form 
respectively  separate  sets  for  its  performance.  On  the 
Tuesday  of  Easter  week  crowds  of  visitors  from  Athens 
repair  to  the  township  of  Megara  to  witness  the  perform- 
ance of  this  dance  by  the  women,  wTho  here  still  wear  the 
brightly-coloured  and  picturesque  native  dress. 

The  Tsamikds  is  danced  by  men  only.  The  performers  are 
connected  by  handkerchiefs,  as  in  the  syrtos  horos,  but  the 
dancing  is  all  done  by  the  occupant  of  the  right-hand  extremity 
of  the  line,  the  rest,  as  they  follow  him,  merely  marking  the 
rhythm  with  their  feet  and  singing.  The  leader  meanwhile 
moves  backwards  and  forwards  performing  a  variety  of  steps 
— leaping,  falling  on  one  knee,  performing  feats  of  equilibrium, 
and  waving  a  handkerchief  with  his  free  hand.  When  fatigued 
with  these  exertions  he  cedes  his  place  to  the  performer  on 
his  left,  and  each  in  turn  endeavours  to  surpass  his  fellows  in 
feats  of  agility.  This  dance  has  many  local  varieties  with 
special  names,  one  of  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  survival  of 
the  Pyrrhic  dance  of  Albania.  This  has  all  the  characteristics 
of  a  war  dance,  and  is  much  affected  by  soldiers  of  both  races. 
At  the  bivouac,  or  before  the  wayside  hostelry,  wherever 
indeed  an  opportunity  offers,  will  gather  a  group  of  youths 
with  lissome  bodies,  and  it  may  be  long  classic  faces,  who, 
forming  a  ring,  circle  round  interminably,  leaping  and  shouting 
to  the  rhythm  of  their  own  wild  songs. 

The  Leventikos  is  of  a  quite  different  character.  Two  men, 
or  women,  stand  a  few  feet  apart  facing  in  the  same  direction 
and  perform  steps  consisting  of  forward  and  backward 
movements  with  occasional  upward  leaps,  the  dancers  clapping 


A   WOMAN    OF    MEGARA 


Festal  Life  177 

their  hands  throughout  to  mark  the  measure  and  maintaining 
their  original  distance  from  one  another,  at  intervals  returning 
to  the  spot  from  which  they  Waited. 

Die  music  with  which  these  rural  dances  are  most  generally 
impanied  is  supplied  by  a   primitive  kind  of  mandolin, 
the  three-stringed  oval  viol,  the  reed  pipe  and  the  drum,  and 
.  Iso  by  the  voice.     Indeed,  when  women  and  girls  dance  by 
themselves  on  ordinary  occasions  it  is,  as  a  rule,  to  the  a<  com- 
panimenl  oi  their  own  voices  alone.     The  songs  reserved  for 
ich  occasions  are  different  for  men  and  women,  those  peculiar 
to  the  men  being  often  of  a  martial  nature,  especially  in  the 
of  the  Tsamikos,  or  Pyrrhic  dance.     The  dancing-songs 
•  !  the  women  and  girls  are  often  of  a  humorous,  and  occasion- 
ally of  a  pathetic  character  ;   but  for  the  most  part  they  deal 
with  the  romantic  side  of  rural  and  pastoral  life,  and  are  full 
of  the  rich  imagery  of  flowers,  fruit,  gold,  silver  and  jewels, 
characteristic  of  Greek  love-songs  generally.     The  majority 
are  sung  antiphonically  by  two  sets  of  voices,  or  in  the  form 
solo  and  chorus.     Very  frequently  they  form  a  dialogue 
hit  wren  a  youth  and  maiden  as  in  the  following — 

(Strophe.)       "  O  Lassie  mine,  with  dusky  brow, 
Wilt  thou  no  pity  lor  me  show  ? 
(Antistrophe.)      Why  still  stand  with  scornful  air, 
While  I  am  dying  of  despair  ? 
Lean  from  thy  lattice,  lassie  mine, 
They  steal  the  blossoms  from  thy  bine  1 

(Ant.)      If  forth  I  lean,  what  think' st  to  gain  ? 

Thou  wilt  get  naught  to  ease  thy  pain. 
Come,  lassie,  to  thy  doorway  then, 
An  eagle's  carrying  oil  thy  hen  ! 

(Ant.)      And  if  I  do,  what  gain  have  you  ? — 

Rake,  with  your  fez  cocked  all  askew  I 
Come  to  thy  porch,  and  be  not  coy. 
Long  may'st  thou  live,  thj   mother's  joy  ! 

(Ant.)      And  if  I  come,  what  wilt  thou  gain  ? — 
That  will  not  rid  thee  of  thy  pain  I 
O  lassie  mine,  with  dusky  brow, 
Why  art  so  cruel  to  me  now  ? 

(Ant.)      Who  has  kissed  thy  lips,  my  dear? — 
Lips  extolled  both  far  and  near  I 

13— (2385) 


178  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

One  who  so  sweetly  sang  to  me, 
But  now  has  journey'd  o'er  the  sea. 
(Ant.)      Say,  what  can  I  find  to  send. 

To  my  love,  my  faithful  friend  ? 
Should  I  an  apple  send,  'twould  dry  ; 
A  thirty-petalled  rose,  'twould  die  ; 

(Ant.)      A  quince,  it  soon  would  shrivelled  lie. 
And  he  would  gaze  on  it,  and  sigh. 
My  tears  unto  my  love  I'll  send, 
Which  from  my  eyes  stream  without  end, 
(Ant.)      Upon  this  rose-red  kerchief,  see, 

And  let  him  send  it  back  to  me  !  " 

In  another  class  of  dancing-songs  every  line  is  alternated 
with  a  refrain ;  and  in  the  following  specimen  from  Thessaly 
will  be  found  expressed  the  idea  contained  in  Shakespeare's 
exquisite  lines  beginning,  "  Tell  me,  where  is  Fancy  bred  ?  " 

(Strophe.)       "  Now  would  I  set  a  dance  a-foot, — 
(Antistrophe.)  My  early-wedded  lassie! 

That  all  the  world  may  learn  it, — 

Betrothed  so  young,  my  lassie  ! 
May  learn  it,  and  take  heed  to  them, — 

My  early-wedded  lassie  ! 
How  Love  doth  seize  upon  us  : — 

Betrothed  so  yovng,  my  lassie  1 
It  through  the  eyes  takes  hold  on  us, — 

My  early-wedded  lassie  ! 
And  roots  itself  within  the  heart, — 

Betrothed  so  young,  my  lassie  I 
Puts  forth  its  roots  and  lifts  its  crest, — 

My  early-wedded  lassie  I 
It's  green  and  leafy  branches, — 

Betrothed  so  young,  my  lassie  ! 
Bursts  out  in  blossoms  red  and  gay. 

My  early-wedded  lassie  I 
The  flowers  of  Love  these  blossoms, — 

Betrothed  so  young,  my  lassie  ! 
And  in  the  bosoms  of  these  flowers, — 

My  early-wedded  lassie  I 
The  bees  are  ever  sipping, — 

Betrothed  so  young,  my  lassie  !  " 


CHAPTER    XIV 

CLASSIC    SURVIVALS 

Transformed  though  we  have  found  so  many  of  the  old 
i  la^sical  divinities  to  have  been  into  Madonnas  and  Christian 
saints,  a  goodly  number  still  survive  in  their  ancient  forms 
and  endowed  with  exclusively  pagan  attributes.  The 
"  Genius  "  {aroix^lov)  still  haunts 

"  Spring  and  vale, 
Edged  with  poplar  pale," 

and  is  often  both  heard  and  seen  by  lonely  shepherd,  belated 
traveller,  or  village  maiden  who  has  put  off  until  sunset  her 
daily  task  of  drawing  water  at  the  sylvan  spring.  To  the 
first  he  may  appear  as  a  man-eating  monster,  but  the  last 
he  invites  in  seductive  language  to  visit  the  beautiful  palace 
in  which  he  resides  beneath  the  water  of  his  well  or  fountain. 
Some  Sioichcia,  like  the  hamadryads  of  old,  dwell  in  the 
I  rees,  but  have  the  same  propensities  as  their  brethren  inhabit- 
ing the  mountains,  rocks,  and  waters,  and  can  only  be  slain 
by  that  popular  hero  of  Greek  folk-song,  "  The  Widow's 
Son,"  or  by  the  youngest  of  three  brothers  ;  and  many 
accounts  of  such  contests  are  to  be  met  with  both  in  folk- 
ballad  and  folk-tale.  These  Stuicheia  are  evidently  the  sur- 
\  ivors  of  the  beings  referred  to  by  St.  Paul  as  "  the  weak  and 
beggarly  elements  whereunto  ye  desire  again  to  be  in  bond- 
age "  ;  the  "  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world  "  ;  the 
"  rudiments  of  the  world,"  etc.  ;  and  the  translation  of  the 
word  <TToi^eta  as  "  rudiments  "  or  "  elements,"  which  has 
also  been  followed  in  the  Revised  Version,  completely  obscures 
what  appears  to  be  far  more  probably  the  meaning  of  these 

179 


180  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

passages. *  In  the  Apostle's  use  of  the  phrase  ra  o-roix^la 
rod  koo-jjlov,  he  seems  to  attribute  a  distinct  personality  to 
these  genii,  or  spirits  of  the  universe. 

The  Drakos,   though  he  resembles  the  Stoicheion  in  his 
characteristics  of  haunting  mountainous  and  lonely  places, 
and  waging  war  against  mortals,  in  other  respects  closely 
resembles  the  Rakshasa  of  Deccan  tales,  the  Troll  of  Scan- 
dinavia, and  the  Giant  of  our  own  nursery  stories.     Like  the 
generality  of  these  creations  of  popular  fancy,  he  is  big  and 
stupid,   and  easily  outwitted  by  a  crafty  and  courageous 
hero.     These  heroes  are,  like  the  slayers  of  Stoicheia,  generally 
widows'  sons,  or  the  youngest  of  three  brothers,  but  a  Beardless 
Man  also  plays  a  prominent  part  in  such  adventures.     The 
Drakos  has   also  sometimes  a  wife,   the  Drakissa,   who  is 
endowed  with  propensities  similar  to  those  of  her  husband. 
The  Nereids,  Lamias,  and  Sirens  have  also  survived,  and 
display  very  much  the  same  propensities  as  their  classical 
prototypes.     The  Nereids,  though  they  occupy  in  the  popular 
imagination  of  the  Greeks  a  place  similar  to  the  Fairies  of 
more  northern  countries,  and  are  like  them  proverbial  for 
their  beauty,  differ  from  them  in  being  always  of  the  full 
stature   of   mortals,   and   also   in   being   almost   universally 
malevolent.     Like  the  Stoicheia,  they  haunt  fountains,  wells, 
rivers,  mountains,  sea-caves,  and  other  lonely  places,  and 
generally  shun  human  society.     Though,  as  a  rule,  solitary 
in  their  habits,  they  may  occasionally  be  seen  dressed  in 
white,  dancing  in  companies    in  moonlit  glades,  or  on  the 
glistening  sands  of  lonely  isles  and  promontories.     It  is  fatal 
to  see  them  crossing  a  river,  unless  a  priest  be  at  hand  to 
read  passages  of  Scripture,  and  so  counteract  the  spells  of 
the  "  Devil's  Daughters,"  as  they  are  sometimes  called. 

It  is  usual,  however,  to  propitiate  the  Nereids  by  some 

complimentary  epithet,  such  as  "  the  Beautiful  "  or  "  the 

Good  Ladies,"  in  the  same  way  as  the  Furies  were  formerly 

termed  the  Evmenides,  and  as  the  ill-omened  owl  is,  at  the 

1  See  Geldart,  Modem  Greek,  pp.  201-5. 


!»  l  •"•  Ji 


■ 


Classic  Survivals  181 

present  day,  euphemistically  called  the  "  Bird  of  Joy " 
(xapoirovki).  They  are  said  to  have  the  power  of  banefully 
affecting  women  of  whose  beauty  they  are  jealous,  and  to 
be  in  the  habit  of  carrying  off  young  children,  if  they  are 
allowed  to  approach  their  haunts  unprotected.  Their  fancy 
for  new-born  infants  is,  as  I  have  already  noted  in  the  chapter 
dealing  with  family  ceremonies,  a  source  of  great  anxiety  to 
mothers  and  nurses.  All  kinds  of  maladies  are  attributed  to 
the  malevolence  of  the  "  Beautiful  Ladies,"  and  the  women  and 
children  thus  afflicted  are  termed  "  possessed"  {vv/x^okvirraLs:), 
and  can  only  be  cured  by  residence  in  a  church  or  convent, 
or  by  pilgrimage  to  some  holy  shrine.  They  also  occasionally 
fall  in  love  with  men  whom — if  they  return  their  affection 
and  prove  faithful  to  them — they  reward  with  great  pros- 
perity ;  but  if  the  mortal  they  deign  to  favour  with  their 
notice  ventures  to  slight  their  advances,  the  Nereids  revenge 
themselves  by  afflicting  him  with  some  dire  calamity. 
They  possess  this  power  chiefly  at  the  noontide  hour,  when 
they  rest  under  the  shade  of  trees,  usually  planes  and 
poplars,  and  near  springs  and  streams  ;  and  the  wary  peasant, 
fearful  of  the  consequences  of  annoying  these  capricious 
beings,  will  carefully  abstain  from  disturbing  their  repose. 
Phenomena  of  nature,  such  as  whirlwinds  and  storms,  are 
ascribed  to  the  agency  of  the  Nereids,  and  it  is  customary 
to  crouch  down  while  they  are  supposed  to  be  passing  over- 
head. If  this  precaution  is  not  taken,  the  Nereids  seize  the 
too  irreverent  individual,  and  carry  him  or  her  off  to  the 
mountains.  Offerings  of  milk,  honey,  and  cakes  are  made 
to  them,  and  placed  in  certain  spots  which  they  are  believed 
to  frequent,  and  the  country  women,  when  they  see  the 
wind-driven  cloud  scudding  overhead,  mutter  "  honey  and 
milk  !  "  (fjL6\r)-yd\a)  to  avert  all  evil  from  themselves.  Storms 
are,  indeed,  in  the  East,  inseparably  connected  with,  or  rather 
regarded  as,  demons,  whose  wild  flights  from  place  to  place 
cause  these  elemental  disturbances,  and  the  church  bells  are 
rung  to   drive  them   away.     Tempestuous   weather  is   also 


182  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

sometimes  attributed  to  the  festivities  attendant  upon  a 
wedding  among  the  Nereids. 

The  little  water-spouts  formed  of  gathered  wreaths  of 
spray  so  often  seen  in  the  ^Fgean  Sea,  are  looked  upon  with 
great  awe  by  the  dwellers  in  the  islands  and  on  the  seaboard. 
"  The  Lamia  of  the  Sea  is  abroad,"  say  the  peasants  and 
fisherfolk,  when  they  see  the  wind-driven  spray- wreaths  ; 
and  having  recourse  to  Christian  aid  when  frightened  by 
pagan  superstitions,  and  vice  versa,  they  cross  themselves 
repeatedly  and  mutter  prayers  to  the  Panaghia  for  protection 
against  these  demons  of  the  air  and  water.  The  Lamiae  are 
generally  described  as  ill-favoured  and  evilly-disposed  women 
who  haunt  desert  places  and  seashores.  Sometimes,  however, 
they  take  the  form  of  beautiful  women,  who,  like  the  Sirens, 
lure  men  to  destruction  by  their  sweet  voices  and  graceful 
dancing,  or  lay  wagers  with  them,  in  which  the  mortal  is 
sure  to  be  the  loser.  Occasionally,  too,  under  the  semblance 
of  distressed  damsels  who  have  let  a  ring  fall  into  the  water, 
they  entice  unwary  youths  into  their  abodes.  There  are  stories 
of  Lamias  who  have  wedded  mortals  and  borne  children  to 
them.  But  woe  to  the  man  who  has  such  a  helpmate.  For 
she  can  neither  spin,  weave,  knit,  nor  sew,  and  is  equally 
incapable  of  sweeping,  cooking,  baking,  or  taking  care  of  the 
domestic  animals.  So  firm  a  hold  has  this  belief  on  the  popular 
mind,  that  the  expression,  "  a  Lamia's  sweepings,"  exists 
as  a  domestic  proverb,  generally  applied  by  indignant 
housewives  to  a  careless  use  of  the  broom. 

The  Fates  (MoTpai)  of  to-day  also  closely  resemble  their 
classical  prototypes,  being  represented  as  continually  engaged  in 
spinning  the  thread  symbolical  of  the  life  of  man,  and  presiding 
more  especially  over  the  three  great  events  of  his  existence, 
birth,  marriage,  and  death — the  "  Three  Evils  of  Destiny  " 
{ra  Tpia  Katca  rf}<;  Motpa?) — a  very  significantly  pessimistic 
phrase.  Although  the  Fates  are  perpetually  roaming  about 
in  the  fulfilment  of  their  arduous  labours,  the  peaks  of  Olympus 
constitute  their  special  abode  ;    and  it  is  to  this  Mountain  of 


Classic  Survivals  183 

the  Gods  that  those  who  desire  their  assistance  turn  to  utter 
the  invocation — 

"  O  !    from  the  summit  of  Olympus  high, 
From  the  three  limits  of  the  sky, 

Where  dwell  the  dealers  out  of  destinies, 
May  now  my  own  Fate  hear  me, 
And,  hearing,  hover  near  me  !  " 

The  most  ghastly  of  Greek  popular  superstitions  is,  how- 
ever, that  of  the  Vampire,  generally  known  on  the  Greek 
mainland  by  the  Slavonic  name  of  Vrykolakas,  but  in  Crete 
and  in  Rhodes  by  the  thoroughly  Hellenic  designation  of 
Katakhnas.  In  Cyprus  it  is  termed  Sarkomenos,  the  "  Fleshy 
One  "  ;  and  in  Tenos,  Anaikathoumenos ,  the  "  Restless  One." 
For  a  Vampire  is  not  a  disembodied  spirit  but  an  undissolved 
body.  As  elsewhere  mentioned,  it  is  customary  with  the 
Greeks  to  exhume  the  body  of  a  deceased  relative  at  the  end 
of  three  years  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  it  is  duly  decom- 
posed. Should  this  not  be  the  case,  the  dead  man — the 
Vrykolakas  is  generally  of  the  masculine  sex — is  supposed  to 
be  possessed  of  the  power  of  rising  from  the  grave  and  roaming 
abroad,  revelling  in  the  blood  of  his  victims.  The  causes  of 
vampirism  are  various,  and  among  them  are  the  following  : 
having  either  perpetrated,  or  having  been  the  victim  of  a 
crime  ;  having  wronged  some  person,  who  has  died  resenting 
the  wrong  ;  or  it  is  the  consequence  of  a  curse,  pronounced 
either  in  excommunicatory  form  by  a  priest, *  or  by  a  person  to 
whom  an  injury  has  been  done,  as  in  the  folk-song  of  "  The 
Old  Man's  Bride  "— 

"  Cursed  may  my  mother  be  ;   and  Earth,  dissolve  not  in  thy  bosom 
The  go-between  whom  she  employed  to  settle  my  betrothal  !  " 

"  May  the  earth  not  eat  you  !  "  (Na  fir)  <ri  (f>drj  fj  7?)?!),  is 
a  common  expression  in  the  mouth  of  an  angry  Greek. 

1  Part  of  this  ecclesiastical  curse  runs  thus  :  "  Let  him  be  separated 
from  the  Lord  God  Creator,  and  lie  accursed  and  unpardoned  and  indis- 
soluble after  death  in  this  world  and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  Let  wood, 
stones,  and  iron  be  dissolved,  but  let  him  be  undissolved." 


184  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Vampirism  is  believed  to  be  hereditary  in  certain  families, 
the  members  of  which  are  regarded  with  aversion  by  their 
neighbours  and  shunned  as  much  as  possible.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  the  vampire  retires  to  his  grave  before  cock- 
crow, but  some  maintain  that  he  visits  it  only  once  a  week, 
on  the  Saturday.  When  it  is  discovered  that  such  a  Vryko- 
lakas  is  about,  the  people  go  on  a  Saturday  and  open  his 
tomb,  where  they  always  find  his  body  just  as  it  was  buried, 
and  entirely  undecomposed.  The  priest  who  accompanies 
them  reads  certain  parts  of  the  ritual  believed  to  be  of 
peculiar  efficacy  for  putting  a  stop  to  the  restless  wanderings 
of  vampires,  and  sometimes  this  course  suffices  to  restore 
the  neighbourhood  to  peace  and  quiet.  But  cases  happen 
in  which  the  priest  is  not  a  sufficiently  powerful  exorcist ; 
and,  when  all  his  endeavours  have  proved  inefficacious,  the 
people  of  the  neighbourhood  go  to  the  tomb  on  a  Saturday, 
and  either  drive  a  stake  through  the  heart  of  the  undissolving 
corpse,  or  take  out  the  body  and  consume  it  with  fire. 
Nothing  short  of  extreme  necessity  would,  however,  make 
Orthodox  Greeks  consent  to  perform  such  an  act,  as  they 
have  a  religious  horror  of  consuming  with  fire  a  body  on  which 
the  holy  chrism  has  been  poured  by  the  priest  when  perform- 
ing the  last  rites  of  his  religion.  A  touching  story  is  told 
in  folk-song  of  a  dead  man  who,  though  the  earth  had  begun 
the  process  of  "  eating  "  him,  was  called  from  his  grave  by 
the  passionate  entreaties  of  his  mother,  reminding  him  of  his 
promise  to  bring  back  to  her  his  sister  who  had  been  married 
to  a  bridegroom  from  Babylon.  The  Greek  poet,  Valaorites, 
also  describes,  in  a  splendidly  realistic  poem,  the  rousing 
from  their  graves  of  the  tyrant,  Ali  Pasha  of  Tepelen,  and 
his  Greek  lieutenant,  Thanase  Vaghia,  by  the  vampires  of 
the  massacred  inhabitants  of  Gardiki  ;  and  one  of  the  most 
thrilling  modern  vampire  stories  I  have  met  with  is  that 
related  by  Mr.  Pashley  in  his  Travels  in  Crete. 

In  the  East  no  laws,  ecclesiastical  or  secular,  appear  to 
exist  interfering  with  the  calling  of  Witches,  and  especially 


Classic  Survivals  185 

in  Thessaly,  famous  of  old  for  its  mdyissas,  they  and  their 
powers  are  held  in  great  estimation  by  members  of  all  creeds. 
To  the  Witch  repair  love-sick  maidens  and  jealous  wives, 
childless  women  and  mothers  with  ailing  children,  seekers  of 
lost  or  stolen  property,  and  for  each  of  her  clients  the  wise 
woman  has  a  specific.  Like  the  Witch  of  Theocritus,  she 
makes  use  of  the  magic  power  of  moonlight  to  compose  her 
spells  and  potions  ;  or,  crouching  hag-like  over  her  charcoal 
brazier,  throws  on  the  glowing  embers  with  strange  incanta- 
tions, laurel-leaves,  salt,  flour,  or  cloves.  Faithless  lovers 
had  need  beware,  and  furnish  themselves  with  counter-spells, 
when  deserted  maidens  have  recourse  to  the  aid  of  the  mdyissa. 
with  whose  aid  a  "  wasting  curse  "  may  be  laid  on  the 
offender.  Some  of  these  curses  are  thus  expressed  :  "  May'st 
thou  (naming  the  person)  become  attenuated  as  a  thread  ; 
and  pass  through  a  needle's  eye."  "  May'st  thou  become 
small  as  my  finger  !  "  while  others  are  in  the  form  of  a  distich, 
as  for  instance — 

"  Be,  who  scorns  to  love  this  maid, 
Five  years  on  a  sick-bed  laid  !  " 

Fortune-telling  is  also  largely  practised  by  the  mdyissas, 
and  is  performed  by  means  of  cards,  or  a  tray  of  beans,  coins, 
and  other  small  objects,  manipulated  according  to  some 
form  of  calculation.  Some  years  ago  I  formed  one  of  a  party 
of  resident  Europeans  at  a  Witch's  fortune-telling  in  the 
Greek  quarter  of  Salonica.  The  abode  of  the  "  spay- wife  " 
was  a  spacious  but  gloomy  apartment,  with  a  tiny  barred 
window  and  cavernous  chimney-place.  Amid  the  darkness 
of  the  unceiled  rafters  flitted  ghostly  white  pigeons,  and  when, 
after  a  little  while,  our  eyes  had  become  accustomed  to  the 
dimness,  we  descried  the  typical  black  cat,  whose  green  eyes 
regarded  us  suspiciously  from  one  of  the  smoke-blackened 
crossbeams  overhead.  If  "  the  oracles  are  dumb,"  dreams 
now  serve  as  a  very  good  substitute  for  them,  and  the  woman 
who  is  not  fortunate  enough  to  possess  an  'OvetpoKpLT^,  or 


186  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

"  Dream-book  "  of  her  own  has  recourse  to  the  skill  of  the 
wise  woman,  who  interprets  her  dream  by  means  of  certain 
formulas  which  have  probably  been  handed  down  from  the 
remotest  antiquity.  For  magical  secrets  are  generally  heredi- 
tary in  families,  and  the  daughter,  as  a  rule,  succeeds  the 
mother  as  village  mdyissa.  In  addition  to  her  power  of 
"  spaying  fortunes,"  the  witch  is  also  able  to  aid  a  person 
who  has  been  the  victim  of  a  robbery  to  discover  the  thief. 
A  considerable  branch  of  the  Witch's  trade  also  consists  in 
providing  besides  love-spells  and  potions,  other  spells  of 
less  innocent  intention.  Persons  believing  themselves  to 
be  sufferers  from  the  effects  of  magic— for  a  hint  is  gener- 
ally conveyed  to  the  subject  of  the  spell — must  naturally 
have  recourse  to  the  Witch  to  remove  it.  Her  skill,  too,  is 
called  in  request  when  ordinary  means  fail  to  exercise  that 
most  dreaded  of  all  mysterious  powers,  the  "  evil  eye."  For, 
notwithstanding  the  innumerable  antidotes  used  to  avert  it, 
persons  are  often  found  to  be  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the 
enviously  malignant  gaze  of  some  evilly-disposed  neighbour. 
Fumigations  of  various  kinds  are  most  frequently  resorted 
to  in  order  to  dispel  the  baneful  influence,  a  sprig  of  olive, 
a  palm  branch  blessed  by  the  priest  on  Palm  Sunday,  or,  if 
it  can  be  procured,  a  scrap  of  the  suspected  person's  dress 
being  usually  burnt  for  this  purpose.  It  would,  however, 
be  difficult  to  enumerate  all  the  means  to  which  recourse  is 
had  for  dissipating  the  effects  of  the  evil  eye,  as  they  are  as 
numerous  as  the  preservatives  against  it.  Among  the  latter 
are  gold  coins,  pointed  bits  of  coral,  blue  glass,  cloves  of 
garlic,  blood-stones,  cornelians,  and  crosses,  which  are  worn 
on  the  person,  or  fastened  to  the  headstalls  of  horses,  mules, 
and  donkeys,  and  the  horse-shoes,  boars'  tusks,  and  hares' 
heads  hung  on  the  walls  of  houses  and  other  buildings  to 
preserve  them  from  this  baneful  and  mysterious  power. 
Blue  glass  bracelets  are  frequently  worn  by  girls  and  young 
women  for  the  purpose  of  averting  the  evil  eye,  and  when 
they  get  broken — which,  considering  the  material  of  which 


Classic  Survivals  187 

they  are  made,  is  sure  to  happen  sooner  or  later — the  event 
is  attributed  to  the  mdtiasma  having  luckily  fallen  upon  them 
instead  of  upon  their  owners. 

An    amusing    illustration    of   this   superstition   was   once 
afforded  me  when  visiting  an  old  lady  from  the  island  of 
Tenos.     Her  little  grandson  who  had  just  arrived  from  Europe, 
was,   during  luncheon,   an  object  of  great    interest  to  his 
grandmother  and  aunts,  who  overwhelmed  him  with  lauda- 
tions.    To  every  complimentary  remark,  however,  made  to 
or  about  him  by  either  this  lady  or  her  daughters,  another 
would  exclaim  in  Greek    "No,  no  !    garlic,  garlic  !  "    at  the 
same  time   pointing  two  outstretched   fingers   at   the  child 
thus  threatened  with  the  evil  eye.     For  this  baneful  influence 
may  also  be  cast  unwittingly,  and  without  malice  prepense, 
and  seems  in  this  respect  to  be  a  survival  of  the  ancient 
notion  of  the  "  envy  of  the  gods."     It  is,  indeed,  impossible 
in  the  Levant  to  speak  admiringly  or  approvingly  of  any 
person  or  thing  without  being  met  with  the  exclamation, 
"  Ah  !    don't  give  it  the  evil  eye  !  "     On  another  occasion 
the  child  of  a  friend  of  mine  having  appeared  to  his  devoted 
old  nurse,  a  Greek  woman  from  the  Island  of  Nicaria,  to 
be  ailing  and  out  of  sorts,  she  at  once  concluded  that  the 
baby    was    matiasmenos ,    and    persuaded    her    mistress    to 
allow  her  to  send  for  a  compatriot  skilled  in  such  matters. 
The  wise  woman  arrived,   and  I  accompanied  the  mother 
into  the  nursery,  where  we  found  the  infant  divested  of  its 
clothing,  and  stretched  on  the  bed  on  a  square  of  red  cloth. 
Little  piles  of  lighted  hemp  were  smoking  like  miniature 
altars  at  each  corner,  and  the  old  hag  was  performing  a  series 
of  manipulations  with  the  child's  limbs,  alternately  crossing 
its  right  leg  over  its  left  shoulder,  and  its  left  leg  over  its 
right  shoulder,  interspersing  these  movements  with  blowings 
and   attentions  to  the  altars.      The  little  patient  appeared 
greatly  to  enjoy  the  operation,  as  he  crowed  and  laughed  all 
the  time  in  the  face  of  the  Witch  ;  and  when  it  was  concluded 
he  seemed  to  have  recovered  his  wonted  liveliness.    Possibly, 


188  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

however,  the  sign  of  the  cross  made  with  the  bath's  limbs 
while  thus  "  passing  it  through  the  fire  "  represented  the 
symbol  of  the  pagan  Sungod,  rather  than  that  of  the  Christian 
Saviour  ? 

Some  people  are  quite  notorious  for  their  power  of  casting 
the  evil  eye,  and,  though  the  propensity  is  much  dreaded, 
they  enjoy  a  certain  amount  of  consideration,  as  their  neigh- 
bours are  naturally  careful  not  to  offend  them  in  any  way. 
Red-haired  persons  are  particularly  suspected,  and  blue  or 
grey  eyes,  being  comparatively  rare  in  the  East,  are  con- 
sidered especially  baneful.  The  latter  defect  in  my  personal 
appearance  more  than  once  caused  me  to  be  accused  of 
exercising  this  spell.  I  happened  one  spring  day  to  stop  in 
a  village  street  to  watch  a  pair  of  storks  who  were  busily 
employed  repairing  their  nests  in  a  cypress-tree,  to  which  they 
had  just  returned  from  their  winter  quarters,  and  was  thus 
all  unconscious  that  two  low-class  Greeks  were  approaching 
between  me  and  the  objects  of  my  attention.  A  volley  of 
vituperative  language,  however,  in  which  my  eyes  were 
vehemently  anathematised,  recalled  my  attention  to  earth, 
and  I  was  glad  to  hurry  away  in  an  opposite  direction  to 
escape  the  resentment  of  the  men,  who  believed  me  to  have 
given  them  the  evil  eye,  or,  in  the  old-English  phrase,  to  have 
"  overlooked  them." 

It  would  prove  a  stupendous  task  to  collect  all  the  folk- 
beliefs  and  customs  of  the  Greeks,  so  connected  are  they 
with  every  detail  of  domestic  life,  and  with  such  varied  cir- 
cumstances, and  one  generally  learns  them  only  by  trans- 
gressing them.  Great  was  the  dismay  of  the  old  Greek  nurse 
above  mentioned  when  I  showed  her  one  morning  a  soft, 
fluffy  little  owlet,  which  I  had  found  between  the  persienne 
and  the  window  of  my  room.  "  It  was  a  sign  of  death," 
she  cried,  and  some  terrible  calamity  was  sure  to  happen  in 
the  family.  By  a  strange  coincidence,  a  pet  kid  which  was 
kept  in  thr  garden  was  on  that  morning  found  dead  ;  and 
after  this  fatality  there  was  no  gainsaying  the  superstition. 


Classic  Survivals  189 

This  evil  reputation  in  the  Islands  and  elsewhere  in  the  Levant 
of  the  owl  is  the  more  curious  as,  in  Athens — no  doubt  on 
account  of  its  ancient  connection  with  Pallas-Athena — this 
bird  is  considered  lucky.  The  most  trivial  circumstances, 
too,  connected  with  the  birth  of  a  child  are  considered  good 
or  bad  omens,  according  to  the  interpretation  given  to  them. 
Trifling  accidents  happening  on  a  wedding-day  have  a  gloomy 
signification,  as  have  also  the  breaking  of  a  looking-glass, 
the  accidental  spilling  of  oil  (to  spill  wine,  however,  is  lucky), 
sweeping  the  house  after  the  master  has  departed  on  a  journey, 
meeting  a  funeral  or  a  priest,  a  hare  crossing  the  path,  and 
a  thousand  other  little  everyday  occurrences.  Things 
lucky  and  things  unlucky,  things  to  be  done  and  things  not 
to  be  done,  would,  indeed,  make  a  long  list. 

Among  folk-customs  may,  perhaps,  be  included  the  peculiar 
gestures  which  are  used  as  a  common  mode  of  expression 
dispensing  with  words,   or  accompanied  only  by  a  mono- 
syllable.     The  sign  of  the  negative  the  ananevein  (dvavevecv) , 
of  the  ancient  Greeks — consists  of  throwing  back  the  head, 
and  making  at  the  same  time  a  slight  noise  with  the  tongue 
and  front  teeth.     To  denote  that  a  person  is  stingy  or  miserly, 
the  tip  of  the  thumb  is  placed  behind  the  front  teeth.     Utter 
disapprobation    and   contempt   of   another   is   expressed   by 
taking  hold  of  the  upper  part  of  one's  dress  with  the  finger 
and  thumb  of  the  right  hand  and  shaking  it  with  the  ejacu- 
lation,     "  Na !  "     And   the   climax  of   contumely   appears 
to  be  reached  when,  after  a    dispute,  one  of    the  parties 
stretches  out  his  hand  towards  the  other's  face  with  the 
words,   Nd  'ae    {"  That    to    thee  !  ") — a    survival    of    the 
classic    phdskelon.      "  Under    my   old    shoes !  "    is    also    a 
common  form  of  insult  in  some  localities  ;    and  an  angry 
woman  of  the  people,  quarrelling  with  a  neighbour,  concludes 
her    torrent    of    invective    with    the    wish,    "  May'st  thou 
burst  !  " 

The  changes  of  the  seasons  are  still  celebrated  in  Greece,  and 
especially  the  coming  of  the  Spring  and  the  re-birth  of  Nature, 


190  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

the  swallows  being  welcomed  in  April  with  songs  which  recall 
the  xeXihoviaiJia  of  the  ancients — 

"  Swallows  are  returning  fast, 
Over  wide  seas  they  have  past ; 
'Neath  the  eaves  they  build  their  nest. 
Sing  as  they  from  labour  rest. 

"  March,  cold  March,  did  snow  amain, 
February  came  with  rain  ; 
April,  sweetest  of  the  year, 
Cometh  .now,  and  he  is  near. 

"  Twitter  all  the  birds  and  sing, 
All  the  little  trees  do  spring  ; 
Hens  lay  eggs,  and — O  good  luck  ! — 
Already  they  begin  to  cluck. 

"  Flocks  and  herds,  a  numerous  train. 
To  hilly  pastures  mount  again  ; 
Goats  that  skip  and  leap  and  play, 
Nibbling  wayside  shrubs'  green  spray. 

"  Birds  and  beasts  and  men  rejoice, 
With  one  heart  and  with  one  voice  ; 
Frosts  are  gone  and  snow-wreaths  deep, 
Blust'ring  Boreas  now  doth  sleep." 

May  Day  is  also  greeted  with  songs  sung  at  the  doors  of 
houses   and   observed   as   a   rural   festival,   the   flowers   and 
The  Eve        green  branches  brought  back  from  the  family 
of  excursion  into  the  country  customary  on  this 

St.  John.  ^ay  bemg  twined  into  wreaths  and  hung 
over  the  house  or  courtyard  gateway.  An  interesting 
custom,  called  the  "  Klithona,"  is  observed  in  many  localities 
at  the  Feast  of  the  Summer  Solstice,  or  the  "  Eve  of  St. 
John."  It  is,  however,  as  a  rule,  performed  only  in  the 
family  circle,  and  many  people  resident  in  the  country  are 
ignorant  of  it.  At  sunset,  a  large  jar  is  filled  with  water 
and  placed  in  the  garden.  Round  it  the  family  assemble, 
each  with  a  leaf  or  a  flower  which  he  or  she  throws  in,  a 
wild  dance  and  chant  being  kept  up  all  the  time.  The  jar  is 
then  carefully  covered  with  a  linen  cloth,  and  the  youngest 
of  the  party  goes  through  the  ceremony  of  "  locking  "  it  with 


Classic  Survivals  191 

the  house-key.  It  is  finally  set  aside  until  the  following  day 
at  noon,  when  the  family  assemble  for  the  d/cXiOova,  or 
"  unlocking."  The  cloth  is  removed,  and  each  looks  anxiously 
to  see  if  his  or  her  leaf  or  flower  is  floating  on  the  water,  as 
that  foretells  a  long  life,  and  an  immersed  leaf  or  flower  an 
early  death.  A  general  sprinkling  then  ensues.  The  young 
people  chase  each  other  with  glasses  of  water  from  the  bowl, 
and  those  who  receive  a  thorough  drenching  look  upon  it  as 
a  lucky  omen.  Singing  is  kept  up  all  the  time,  and  an  occa- 
sional improvised  couplet  containing  a  sly  personal  allusion 
adds  to  the  general  merriment. 

In  Macedonia  the  ceremony  differs  a  little,  and  is  generally 
observed  only  by  the  girls  and  unmarried  women  who  often 
make  up  little  parties  for  the  occasion.  One  of  the  number 
is  sent  to  fill  a  large  jar  of  water  at  the  well  or  fountain,  with 
the  injunction  not  to  open  her  lips  until  she  returns,1  no 
matter  who  may  accost  her.  Into  this  jar  each  maiden 
drops  some  small  object,  such  as  a  ring,  bead,  or  glass  bracelet. 
A  cloth  is  then  carefully  tied  over  the  mouth  of  the  jar,  which 
is  left  out  all  night  under  the  stars.  The  youths  of  the 
neighbourhood  are  not  infrequently  on  the  alert  to  discover 
the  hiding-place  of  the  jar,  which,  if  found,  they  rob  of  its 
contents,  which  the  girls  only  recover  with  a  forfeit.  If 
all  goes  well,  the  jar  is  uncovered  on  the  following  evening 
at  sunset,  and  one  of  the  maidens,  shutting  her  eyes,  plunges 
her  bared  arm  into  the  water,  and,  as  she  draws  out  the  objects 
one  by  one,  recites  a  distich  which  is  received  as  an  augury, 
propitious  or  the  reverse,  of  the  matrimonial  prospects  of  its 
owner.  In  the  evening  the  bonfire  is  lighted  before  the  gate, 
and,  after  taking  down  and  casting  into  it  the  now-faded 
garlands  hung  over  the  doors  on  May  Day,  the  young  people 
leap  through  the  flames,  fully  persuaded  that  "  the  fire  of 
St.  John  will  not  burn  them."  The  couplets  sung  or  recited 
on  this  occasion,  though  sometimes  impromptu,  are  generally 

1  "  Unspoken-over  "  water  appears  in  the  East  to  be  credited  with 
special  virtues. 


192  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

culled  from  the  national  treasury  of  distiches,  twelve  hundred 
of  which  have  been  collected  in  Epirus  alone. 

In  Thessaly  and  Macedonia  it  is  customary  in  times  of 
prolonged  drought  to  send  a  procession  of  children  round  to 
all  the  wells  and  springs  of  the  neighbourhood.  At  their 
head  walks  a  girl  adorned  with  flowers,  whom  they  drench 
with  water  at  each  halting-place  while  singing  this  invocation — 

"  Perperia,  all  fresh  bedewed, 
Freshen  all  the  neighbourhood  ; 
By  the  woods,  on  the  highway, 
As  thou  goest,  to  God  now  pray  : 
O  my  God,  upon  the  plain, 
Send  thou  us  a  still,  small  rain  ; 
That  the  fields  may  fruitful  be, 
And  vines  in  blossom  we  may  see  ; 
That  the  grain  be  full  and  sound, 
And  wealthy  grow  the  folks  around  ; 
Wheat  and  barley, 
Ripen  early, 

Maize  and  cotton  take  firm  root, 
Rice  and  rye  and  currants  shoot ; 
Gladness  in  our  gardens  all, 
For  the  drought  may  fresh  dews  fall 
Water,  water,  by  the  pail, 
Grain  in  heaps  beneath  the  flail  ; 
Bushels  grow  from  every  ear, 
Each  vine-stem  a  burden  bear. 
Out  with  drought  and  poverty 
Dew  and  blessings  let  us  see  !  '  " 


CHAPTER  XV 

HOME   LIFE   AND   WOMEN'S   WORK 

The  more  remote  the  community,  and  the  more  isolated  from 
contact  with  the  outer  world,  the  more  rigid  generally  is  found 
to    be   the   code   of   social   morals.     In   the 
of  Morals.       mountain    villages    of    Crete,    for    instance, 
female  misconduct  is  visited  with  the  severest 
penalties,  and  even  within  the  last  century  was  punishable 
with  death.     Whenever  a  married  woman  was  merely  sus- 
pected of  faithlessness,  or  an  unmarried  one  of  frailty,  her 
hours  were  from  that  moment  numbered,  and  her  end  was 
so  tragical  and  so  shocking,  not  only  to  all  the  feelings  of 
natural  affection,  but  even  to  the  ordinary  notions  of  humanity, 
that  one  can  hardly  believe  such  a  practice  to  have  been 
observed  in  the  nineteenth  century,  on  the  very  confines  of 
civilised  Europe,  and  by  Christian  people.  Her  nearest  relatives 
were  at  once  her  accusers,  her  judges,  and  her  executioners. 
The  social  position  of  the  women  of  a  country  is,  of  course, 
chiefly  determined  by  the  law  of  marriage  of  the  established 
.  religion.     Hence,     among     the     Greeks,     as 

Divorce.  among  all  other  Christian  nations,  the  social 
position  of  women  is  determined  primarily 
by  that  Christian  law  of  marriage  which  abolished  the  old 
rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  women  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  introduced  the  subjection  of  the  wife  to  the 
husband  in  an  indissoluble  marriage.  By  the  Greek  Church, 
however,  this  general  Christian  law  was  modified  so  long 
ago  as  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  Patriarch  Alexius 
permitted  the  clergy  to  solemnise  the  second  marriage  of  a 
divorced  woman  if  the  conduct  of  her  first  husband  had 
occasioned  the  divorce.  And  at  the  present  day  little 
difficulty  is  experienced  in  dissolving  an  incompatible  union, 

193 
13— (2385) 


194  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

even  when  there  has  been  no  misconduct  on  either  side,  and 
whether  the  suit  be  brought  by  husband  or  wife.  The  case 
is  tried  by  a  Council  of  Elders  presided  over  by  the  Archbishop 
of  the  diocese,  and  the  evidence  is  invariably  heard  in  camera, 
thus  avoiding  the  publicity  and  scandal  attending  divorce 
cases  in  the  West. 

As  no  "  Women's  Property  Act  "  has  yet  been  added  to  the 
Hellenic  code,  the  dowry  of  a  Greek  wife  passes  unconditionally 
into  the  hands  of  the  husband  on  whom  she 
Women  tlms  becomes  as  dependent  as  she  previously 
was  on  her  father,  and  her  status  remains  the 
same  as  when  marriage  was  still  indissoluble.  The  women 
of  Hellas,  indeed,  whether  married  or  single,  occupy  a  some- 
what peculiar  position,  being  neither  completely  secluded 
from  intercourse  with  the  other  sex,  as  among  the  Turks, 
nor  taking  socially  an  equal  position  in  the  family  as  in 
Europe  generally.  Leaving  out  of  the  question  the  small 
community  of  cosmopolitan  ladies  who  constitute  the  native 
element  in  Athenian  society,  and  who,  in  common  with  the 
wealthy  and  travelled  women  of  the  Levant  generally,  speak 
French  among  themselves  in  preference  to  Greek,  and  set  the 
fashion  in  Parisian  toilettes,  Greek  women  can  hardly,  taken 
as  a  whole,  be  characterised  otherwise  than  as  social  nonen- 
tities. A  middle-class  Greek  may,  for  instance,  ask  to  his 
house  a  new  acquaintance  and  remain  on  friendly  terms 
with  him  for  years  without  introducing  him  to  his  family  ; 
and  when  a  number  of  guests  have  met  at  the  small  social 
gatherings  which  accompany  betrothals  and  other  family 
events  the  sexes  do  not  mix  freely,  the  men  standing  apart 
discussing  the  topics  of  the  day,  while  the  ladies  congregate 
at  the  other  end  of  the  room  engrossed  in  small  talk,  even 
the  hostess  receiving  little  further  attention  from  her  male 
visitors  than  a  formal  salute  on  arrival  and  at  departure. 

Marriage  being  still,  as  of  old,  looked  upon  by  the  Greeks 
generally  as  the  only  fitting  career  for  a  woman,  and  a  dot 
being  also  indispensable  to  this  end,  the  portionless  girl,  even 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  195 

when  endowed  with  good  looks,  finds  herself  in  an  awkward 
position,  and  more  especially  is  this  the  case  among  the 
professional  classes,  as  not  only  are  there  very 
Graduates  ^ew  °Pemngs  f°r  educated  women  outside 
the  home,  but  those  who  take  advantage  of 
such  openings  as  exist — as,  for  instance,  teaching  or  nursing — 
find  themselves  somewhat  at  variance  with  the  Mrs.  Grundys 
of  their  acquaintance.  Very  few  Greek  women  have  conse- 
quently taken  advantage  of  the  facilities  accorded  them  for 
obtaining  University  degrees,  and  until  about  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  when  Mdlle.  Stephanopoli  obtained  the  diploma 
of  the  Philosophical  faculty,  no  woman  had  ventured  to 
apply  for  admission  to  any  University  course.  Since  then, 
however,  a  certain  number  have  graduated  in  the  same 
faculty,  and  a  still  larger  number  have  taken  their  degree  in 
medicine  or  qualified  in  pharmacy  ;  while  an  eminent  Greek 
lady  doctor  possessing  a  French  degree  has  for  some  years 
past  practised  in  Athens. 

Democratic  though  the  Hellenes  are  both  in  principle  and 
practice,  there  is,  as  will  have  been  evident  from  the  fore- 
going pages,  little  likelihood  of  the  question 
Solidarity        0f   female   suffrage,    either  parliamentary  or 
Family  municipal,    being   raised   in   Greece   at   least 

during  the  present  generation.  So  far  as 
any  women's  movement  can  be  said  to  exist  in  the  country 
it  is,  as  above  indicated,  concerned  chiefly  with  organising 
on  profitable  lines  such  industries  as  Greek  women  have  from 
time  immemorial  occupied  themselves  with  in  their  own 
homes,  and  with  encouraging  impecunious  girls  of  the  middle 
class  to  secure  economic  independence  for  themselves  instead 
of  hitherto  burdening  their  poorly-paid  fathers  and  brothers 
with  their  support.  Here,  too,  the  end  in  view  is,  however, 
in  the  main  that  of  marriage  by  the  acquisition  of  a  dot  which 
the  circumstances  of  the  girl's  family  have  rendered  them 
unable  to  provide  ;  and  there  is  in  this  movement  for  the 
economic   independence   of  women   none  of  that   tendency 


196  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

towards  individualism  which  is  breaking  up  family  life  in 
the  West.  Solidarity  is  still  the  keynote  of  Greek  households, 
and  the  well-being  of  the  family  generally  the  first  con- 
sideration. And  when,  as  often  happens,  there  are  several 
daughters  to  be  portioned  in  a  family  of  moderate  means, 
and  the  juniors  have  the  prospect  of  waiting  long  before  a 
dot  can  be  forthcoming  for  them,  it  will  be  these  younger 
girls  of  a  family  who  are  prepared  to  hasten  matters  by 
their  own  exertions. 

But  though  romance  plays  so  small  a  part  in  Greek 
marriages,  the  privilege  of  divorce  is  rarely — save  perhaps 
in  the  Capital  and  the  larger  towns  of  the  Kingdom — made 
use  of  without  serious  cause,  both  social  opinion  and 
pecuniary  consideration  weighing  strongly  against  it.  And 
in  all  my  long  acquaintance  with  persons  of  this  nation, 
some  half-dozen  cases  only  have  come  to  my  personal  know- 
ledge. For  though  husbands  and  wives  have,  as  a  rule, 
seen  very  little  of  each  other  before  marriage,  marital  dissen- 
sions are  extremely  rare,  especially  among  the  upper  and 
middle  classes,  Greek  men  being  not  only  good  sons  and 
brothers,  but  exemplary  husbands,  and  the  women  in  their 
turn  are  the  most  devoted  of  wives.  There  exist,  too,  as  will 
appear  elsewhere,  considerable  remains  of  patriarchal  customs, 

even    among    the    wealthy    and    educated 
PcStaomhsal      classes.     One  of  these  is  that  the  sons,  on 

marrying,  often  bring  their  wives  to  the 
paternal  home.  The  mother,  on  the  death  of  her  husband,  is 
not  banished  to  "  the  dower  house  "  to  make  room  for  the 
wife  of  her  eldest  son,  but  retains  the  place  of  honour  in  the 
household,  and  receives  every  mark  of  attention  and  respect, 
not  only  from  her  sons,  but  from  their  wives,  who  consider 
it  no  indignity  to  kiss  her  hand,  or  that  of  their  father-in-law 
when  receiving  their  morning  greeting  or  evening  benediction. 
For  with  the  Greeks,  as  with  all  Oriental  peoples,  it  is  mother- 
hood rather  than  wifehood  that  entitles  a  woman  to  the 
respect  of  her  husband's  family  and  to  social  position.     And 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  197 

in  these  irreverent  days  it  is  very  refreshing,  on  visiting  a 
Greek  family,  to  see  the  widowed  mother  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  and  remark  the  deference  paid  to  her  by  all  members 
of  her  household. 

It  being  so  difficult  a  matter  to  find  a  husband  for  a  portion- 
less Greek  girl,  a  father  will  consequently  make  it  his  first 

duty    to    save    a    dot    for    his    daughter    or 
Portions!        daughters,  and  brothers,  in  a  father's  place, 

are  required  by  custom  to  see  their  sisters 
satisfactorily  settled  in  life  before  taking  wives  themselves. 
Social  opinion  is,  indeed,  very  strong  on  this  point.  Father- 
less youths  of  the  humbler  class  will  consequently  be  found 
putting  by  every  penny  they  can  save  from  their  wages  to 
that— from  the  Greek  point  of  view — praiseworthy  end, 
often  remaining  single  themselves  till  middle  age  should 
they  have  not  been  able  in  the  meantime  to  marry  off  their 
sisters.  The  legal  marriageable  age  as  fixed  by  the  Orthodox 
Church  is  fifteen  for  a  youth  and  twelve  for  a  girl ;  but  nowa- 
days men  do  not  usually  marry  before  twenty-five  nor  girls 
before  they  have  attained  the  age  of  eighteen.  According 
to  the  unwritten  social  code  daughters  must  also  be  married 
in  order  of  seniority,  and  a  pretty  younger  girl  has  accordingly 
no  better  chance  of  matrimony  than  her  less  prepossessing 
elder  sisters.  It  is  also  a  very  common  practice  for  countty 
folk  formally  to  betroth  their  offspring  in  infancy  to  the 
children  of  intimate  friends  ;  but  in  such  cases  a  youthful 
couple  would  be  kept  severely  apart  after  the  girl  had 
completed  her  twelfth  year. 

In  consequence  of  the  excess  of  men  over  women  in  the 
country,  an  old  maid  is  almost  as  much  of  a  rara  avis  among 
the  Greeks  as  among  their  Turkish  neighbours,  for  no  girl, 
even  if  uncomely,  need  despair  of  matrimony  if  her  relatives 
are  able  to  furnish  her  with  a  dot.  Marriage  being  thus 
looked  forward  to  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  preparation  of 
a  girl's  trousseau  is  often,  especially  among  the  artisan  and 
peasant    classes,    begun    by   the    careful    mother    while   her 


198  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

daughter  is  still  a  child.  The  materials  necessary  are  pur- 
chased by  degrees,  and  the  girl  herself  performs  a  great  part 
of  the  task  of  converting  them  into  wearing  apparel  and 

articles    for    domestic    use.     The    daughter 
Trouss<fau.       °*    a   well-to-do    peasant    will    often    receive 

as  her  portion  a  sum  ranging  from  £30  to 
{100,  together  with  a  plenishing  comprising  a  stock  of  house- 
lmen  and  home-made  carpets,  rugs  and  bedding,  various 
articles  of  furniture,  and  two  or  three  suits  of  clothing,  includ- 
ing a  gala  costume  for  Sundays  and  holidays,  which  varies 
according  to  locality.  Among  the  middle  classes  of  the  towns 
a  dowry  from  £300  to  £500  is  usually  given,  and  the  trous- 
seaux are  more  or  less  European  in  fashion  and  materials. 
But  whatever  the  age  of  the  contracting  parties,  national 
etiquette  ordains  that  they  should  take  no  ostensible  part  in 
the  preliminaries  of  marriage,  which  are  carried  out  by  the 
respective  parents,  or  next  of  kin,  of  the  couple  with  the  help 
of  a  professional  matchmaker  known  as  the  proxenetis,  or 
proxenetra.  Such  an  agent  is  commissioned  by  the  parents 
of  a  marriageable  girl  to  find  a  suitable  husband  for  her  ; 
or  it  may  be,  to  open  negotiations  with  the  parents  of  a 
young  man  whom  they  have  themselves  selected  among  the 
eligible  partis  of  their  acquaintance. 

Hard  indeed  would  appear  to  be  the  lot  of  many  of  the 
peasant  women  who  in  some  localities  are  to  be  seen  working 

in  the  fields  with  the  men,  occasionally  even 
Husband         holding  the  plough,  and  performing  all  such 

farm  duties  which  in  the  West  are  invariably 
performed  by  men  ;  and  especially  is  this  the  case  in  districts 
where  the  male  population  has  become  infected  with  the 
emigration  fever  or  habitually  seeks  occupation  in  other 
parts  of  the  country.  All  the  home  interests  will  then  be 
left  in  the  hands  of  the  wife  who,  with  her  baby  slung  in  a 
bark  cradle  at  her  back  and  her  pitcher  poised  on  her  head, 
fetches  water  from  the  well,  attends  to  the  cattle  and  performs 
all  the  multifarious  and  laborious  duties  thrust  upon  her  by 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  199 

cruel  circumstance.  When  the  brunt  of  such  hard  physical 
toil  falls  upon  a  woman  in  a  climate  subject  to  great  extremes 
of  cold  and  heat  she  naturally  becomes  prematurely  aged, 
and  at  thirty  is  already  in  appearance  an  old  woman.  There 
are  also  many  women  in  better  circumstances  whose  husbands' 
avocations  take  them  from  home  for  long  periods,  during  which 
time  the  care  and  education  of  the  children  and  the  local 
interests  of  the  family  are  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
wife,  who  generally  proves  herself  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
worthy  of  the  trust  reposed  in  her. 

Touching  episodes  are  to  be  found  in  folk-song  and  folk-tale 
depicting  the  return  of  the  husband  after  long  years  of  absence, 
so  changed  that  his  faithful  wife  refused  to  receive  him  into 
her  house  until  he  had  satisfied  her,  by  his  knowledge  of  some 
intimate  personal  mark,  that  he  was  indeed  her  husband — 

'  Tell  me  the  signs  my  body  bears,  and  then  I  may  believe  thee  I  * 
'  Thou  hast  a  mole  upon  thy  chest,  another  in  thine  armpit  ; 
There  lies  between  thy  two  soft  breasts,  a  spot  of  pearly  whiteness  I  '  ' 

Many,  too,  are  the  songs  which  describe  the  wife's  grief 
and  loneliness  during  her  husband's  absence.  The  woman  of 
Malakassi  curses  the  foreign  lands  which  "  take  the  husbands 
when  they're  young,  and  send  them  back  when  aged  "  ; 
and  most  pathetic  is  the  complaint  of  the  Greek  woman  of 
Zagorie  married  to  a  Vlach  husband,  who,  like  the  majority 
of  his  race,  pursues  a  nomadic  occupation — 

"  Why  didst  thou,  mana,  marry  me,  and  give  me  a  Vlach  husband  ? — 
Twelve  long  years  in  Wallachia,  and  at  his  home  three  evenings  1 
On  Tuesday  night,  a  bitter  night,  two  hours  before  the  dawning, 
My  hand  I  did  outstretch  to  him,  but  did  not  find  my  husband. 
Then  to  the  stable-door  I  ran  ;    no  horse  fed  at  the  manger  ! 
I  sped  me  to  the  chamber  back  ;    I  found  not  there  his  weapons  ! 
I  threw  me  on  my  lonely  couch,  to  make  my  sad  complaining  ; 
'  O  pillow,  lone  and  desolate  !     O  couch  of  mine,  forsaken  ! — 
Where  is  thy  lord  who  yesternight  did  lay  him  down  upon  thee  ?  ' 
'  Our  lord  has  left  us  here  behind,  and  gone  upon  a  journey — 
Gone  back  to  wild  Wallachia,  to  famous  Bucharesti.'  " 

As  girls  of  the  peasant  class  can  usually  find  plenty  of 


200  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

occupation  at  home,  they  seldom  go  out  to  service,  except 
when  there  happen  to  be  more  girls  in  a  family  than  the  father 
can  afford  to  portion.  For  among  this  class 
Service0  also  tnere  exists  a  general  prejudice  against 
allowing  girls  to  leave  the  paternal  roof 
until  they  are  married,  and  a  reproach  is  implied  in  the 
expression,  "  So-and-so  has  gone  from  home."  There  are, 
however,  districts  which  form  an  exception  to  this  rule, 
and,  as  already  remarked,  some  of  the  islands  are  famous  for 
their  women  cooks,  who  can  always  command  good  wages 
in  the  towns  of  the  mainland.  From  the  islands,  too,  come 
the  good  old  nurses,  who  in  former  days  brought  with  them 
their  antiquated  costumes  and  still  bring  their  charming 
lullabies  and  folk-tales.  The  girls  who  enter  domestic 
service  save  their  wages  carefully  for  a  marriage  dowry,  and 
in  some  country  districts  still,  as  of  old,  wear  the  coins  strung 
into  necklaces  and  head  ornaments,  a  fashion  formerly  common 
to  all  classes,  when  phlourid,  or  Venetian  sequins,  were  in  great 
demand  for  this  purpose. 

The  amount  of  a  girl's  dowry  is  thus  easily  ascertained  by 
pallikars  on  the  look-out  for  a  "  weel  tochered  "  bride.  In 
the  maritime  cities,  however,  the  national  costume  has, 
unfortunately,  been  quite  discarded  by  the  women,  together 
with  the  collar  of  coins.  As  there  are  no  savings-banks, 
or  other  convenient  methods  of  safely  investing  small  sums, 
servants  now  usually  allow  their  wages  to  accumulate 
in  their  masters'  hands  until  they  marry  or  return  to  their 
homes.  A  laundry-maid  in  the  house  of  one  of  my  friends 
had  upwards  of  £100  to  receive  when  she  left  after  a  long 
period  of  service. 

Greek  servants,  though  on  the  whole  honest  and  respectable, 
are  at  the  same  time  hopelessly  untidy  and  slatternly,  and,  as 
a  rule,  it  is  only  in  the  houses  of  foreigners  that  a  tidy  maid 
is  ever  seen,  though  even  there  they  often  present  themselves 
with  stockingless  feet,  shoes  down  at  heel,  and  unkempt  hair. 
It  is  customary  in  the  East  to  provide  servants  annually 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  201 

with  a  stipulated  quantity  of  clothing  in  addition  to  their 
wages.  Not  a  penny  of  the  latter  will  they  spend  on  dress ; 
and,  consequently,  the  European  lady,  who  has  generally 
more  regard  for  appearances  than  the  native  lady,  finds 
it  her  best  policy  to  offer  small  wages,  and  a  large  allowance 
of  garments  and  shoes.  Many  girls,  and  especially  orphans, 
are  taken  when  still  quite  young  into  wealthy  families,  and 
adopted  as  ■^rvxoTraiSia,  or  "  soul-children."  Until  the  age 
of  thirteen  or  fourteen  they  attend  the  public  schools  and 
assist  in  the  lighter  household  duties.  No  wages  are  given, 
but  the  girls  are  clothed  by  their  protectors  and  receive 
presents  at  the  New  Year  and  other  festivals.  On  attaining 
the  age  of  twenty-five  or  so,  a  trousseau  and  small  dowry  are 
provided,  and  a  husband  found  for  them,  generally  a  small 
shopkeeper  or  artisan. 

The   Greek  women   of  the  towns  have  few  occupations 

outside  their  own  homes.     Their  lives  are  passed  for  the 

most  part  in  a  dull  routine  of  household  duties, 

Townswomen.     varied  only  by  S0SsiP  at  their  doorS  in  Warm 
weather,    occasional    attendance    at    church, 

and  a  walk  on  the  public  promenade  on  some  great  holiday; 
Though  their  education  is  but  slight,  they  are  not  without 
great  good  sense  and  intelligence.  Among  this  class  may, 
however,  now  often  be  observed  a  curious  mixture  of  homeli- 
ness and  pretension  ;  and  instead  of  being  content,  as  formerly, 
to  furnish  her  reception-room  with  a  Turkish  divan  and  a 
few  chairs,  and  to  dress  herself  on  Sundays  and  holidays  in 
her  substantial  but  old-fashioned  wedding-dress,  as  her 
mother  did,  many  a  Greek  matron  stints  her  household  and 
sacrifices  the  real  comforts  of  life  in  order  to  furnish  her 
salone  with  gaudy  Austrian  furniture,  and  to  display  an 
ill-assorted  Parisian  toilette  to  her  admiring  and,  it  may  be, 
envious  neighbours.  To  such  an  extent  is  this  emulation 
sometimes  carried  in  provincial  towns,  that  I  have  heard  of 
ladies  sending  out  their  servants  on  fete  days  to  make  note 
of  the  dresses  and  hats  of  their  rivals,  in  order  to  be  able  to 


202  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

eclipse  them  when  they  themselves  appeared  on  the 
promenade. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  feminine  weaknesses  of  petty 
vanity  and  love  of  display,  Greek  women,  besides  being, 
as  before  mentioned,  faithful  and  affectionate 
Matron.  wives,  are  also  the  most  tender — if  not 
always  the  most  judicious — mothers  to  be 
found  in  any  country ;  their  devotion  being  well  repaid 
by  the  dutiful  and  affectionate  regard  of  their  sons  and 
daughters.  Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  people  in 
whom  family  affection  is  more  strongly  developed,  or  with 
whom  the  ties  of  kindred  are  held  more  sacred.  The  young 
men  who  leave  their  native  towns  or  villages  to  seek  fortune 
in  a  distant  town,  if  not  previously  married,  generally  return 
home  to  wed  the  wives  chosen  for  them  by  their  parents  ; 
and,  when  they  finally  retire  from  commercial  or  professional 
pursuits,  endeavour  to  spend  the  rest  of  their  days  in  the 
midst  of  their  kindred.  When  a  youth  is  leaving  for  the 
first  time  the  bosom  of  his  family,  it  is,  in  some  localities, 
customary  for  his  relatives  and  friends  to  accompany  him 
some  distance  on  the  road.  Before  taking  her  final  leave 
of  her  son,  the  mother  laments  his  departure  in  song,  to 
which  the  youth  responds,  bewailing  the  hard  fate  which 
drives  him  forth  from  his  home.  Some  of  these  Songs  of 
Exile  are  extempore  effusions  called  forth  by  the  circum- 
stances which  induce  or  compel  the  youth  to  leave  his  home. 
Others,  more  conventional,  describe  the  condition  of  the 
stranger  in  a  foreign  land,  without  mother,  wife,  or  sister  to 
minister  to  his  wants,  or  cheer  him  in  sickness  and  sorrow. 

Yet  notwithstanding  the    semi-oriental    position    so  long 

occupied  by  their  sex,  again  and  again  during  the  War  of 

Independence,     as    at    other   crises    of  their 
Greek  • 

Heroines.        national  history,  have  the  women  of  modern 

Hellas    of    all  ranks    laid  aside    distaff   and 

spindle  and,  side  by  side  with  father,  brother  or  husband, 

taken  part  in  the  struggle  for  freedom.     Among  the  many 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  203 

heroines  who  took  part  in  the  heroic  endeavour  to  preserve 
their  menaced  liberty  maintained  by  the  Souliotes  from 
1788  to  1803,  was  Helene,  sister  of  the  great  Souliote  leaders 
Kitsos  and  Notas  Botsaris,  one  of  whose  exploits  is  thus 
commemorated  in  folk-song — 

"  O'er  many  Frankish  lands  I've  roved,  and  many  Frankish  islands. 
Seen  Romeot l  and  Turkish  girls,  Frank  wives,  and  Frankish  maidens, 
But  nowhere  have  I  woman  met  so  wise  and  so  heroic 
As  is  that  maid  of  Souli  who  the  sister  is  of  Notas. 
Her  pistols  and  her  sword  she  dons,  takes  up  her  long  tophdiki  ;2 
Away  she  hastens,  all  alone,  to  seek  her  brother  Notas. 
Three  Turks  there  meet  her  on  the  road,  and  fain  would  seize  upon 

her  : 
'  Thine  arms,  O  woman,  throw  them  down,  thy  life  then  mayst  thou 

save  it  !  ' 
'  What  sayst  thou,  O  wretched  Turk  ?  What  sayest,  vile  Albanian  ? — 
I  an  unmarried  maiden  am,  I'm  Botsaris'  Helene  !  ' 
Her  curved  sword  she  from  scabbard  draws,  all  three   Turks   low 
then  lays  she." 

The  women  of  Mane  also  specially  distinguished  themselves 
by  their  Spartan-like  heroism.  On  the  approach  of  the 
Turkish  troops,  the  women  and  girls  left  their  villages  and, 
lying  in  ambush  in  the  mountain  passes,  kept  up  a  constant 
guerilla  warfare  against  the  invaders  of  their  homes.  One 
of  these  heroines,  Helene,  the  niece  of  a  magnate  of 
Kytherias,  was,  in  after  years,  visited  by  the  French  traveller, 
M.  Pouqueville,  in  the  fortified  tower  of  that  name  where  she 
lived  surrounded  by  a  number  of  the  women  whom  she  had 
formerly  led  to  battle.  Another  Greek  leader,  Captain 
Christos,  had  among  his  forces  a  company  of  twenty  amazons 
under  the  leadership  of  his  own  sister,  who  was  wounded  in 
one  of  their  engagements  with  the  enemy.  And  such  was 
the  respect  with  which  these  women  were  regarded  by  their 
compatriots,  that  a  German  musician  was  shot  dead  by  their 
Captain  for  venturing  to  address  disrespectful  remarks  to 
one  of  them. 

1  i.e.  Greek.  The  terms  Romeot  and  Romaika  were  until  recently 
commonly  used  instead  of  Hellene  and  Hellenic  to  designate  the  Greek 
race  and  language  respectively. 

2  Gun. 


204  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Two  other  renowned  heroines  of  these  stirring  times  were 
Constance  Zacharias  and  Modena  Mavroyennos.  The  former, 
on  the  outbreak  of  the  insurrection,  planted  the  standard 
of  the  Cross  on  her  dwelling  and  called  upon  all  patriotic 
women  to  join  her.  Numbers  responded  to  her  appeal  ; 
and  after  receiving  the  benediction  of  the  Bishop  of  Helos, 
she  led  her  little  troop  against  the  Turks,  who  retired  before 
the  amazons.  Proceeding  to  Londaro,  the  amazons  tore  down 
the  crescents  from  the  mosques  and  set  fire  to  the  house  of  the 
Turkish  voivode,  who  fell  by  the  sword  of  their  leader.  The 
father  of  Modena  had  been  strangled  by  order  of  the  Pasha  of 
Euboea,  and  after  his  death  she  took  refuge  in  Mykone.  Bui 
when  the  call  to  arms  roused  the  patriotism  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesians,  Modena  secretly  incited  her  friends  both  in 
Euboea  and  Mykone  to  revolt  ;  and  such  was  the  effect  of 
her  eloquence  on  the  Mykonians  that  they  equipped  and 
despatched  four  war  vessels  as  their  contribution  to  the 
Hellenic  fleet.  It  was  also  Modena  who,  when  the  Algerian 
ships  disembarked  troops  on  the  shores  of  Myk6n6,  hastily 
collecting  a  band  of  patriots,  drove  them  on  board  again 
with  the  loss  of  their  leader. 

During  the  long  siege  of  Mesolonghi,  too,  the  women  and 

girls   aided   the   defenders   by   bringing   materials   of   every 

description   to   stop   the   breaches   made   by 

Twe    iie„S^°f     the    Turkish     artillery,      directed— shameful 
Mesolonghi.  „  ^  ^  T         ,, 

to    say — by     European     officers.      In     the 

course  of  the  siege  the  leading  women  of  the  beleaguered 
town  drew  up  and  signed  a  petition  which  they  addressed 
to  the  philhellenic  ladies  of  Europe,  praying  them  to  use 
their  influence  with  their  respective  governments  to  prevent 
this  partisanship  of  the  strong  against  the  weak  and  des- 
cribing in  touching  terms  the  sufferings  of  the  brave 
defenders.  "  Most  of  us,"  they  wrote,  "  have  seen  mothers 
dying  in  the  arms  of  their  daughters,  daughters  expiring 
in  the  sight  of  their  wounded  fathers,  children  seeking  nourish- 
ment from  the  breasts  of  their  dead  mothers  ;    nakedness, 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work         205 

famine,  cold  and  death  are  the  least  of  the  evils  witnessed 

by  our  tear-dimmed  eyes.     Few  are  there  among  us  who  have 

not  lost  loved  relatives  ;    many  are  left  destitute  orphans. 

But,  friends  of  Hellas,  less  profoundly  have  these  evils  touched 

our  hearts  than  has  the  inhumanity  manifested  towards  a 

nation  struggling  for  freedom  by  those  who  boast  of  being 

born  in  the  bosom  of  civilised  Europe."     This  touching  appeal 

was,  however,  disregarded  by  "  civilised  Europe."     After  a 

siege  of  eleven  months  maintained  by  a  garrison  of  less  than 

6,000  against  an  army  of  100,000,  a  sortie  was  attempted. 

Two    companies   succeeded   in    forcing   the    Ottoman    lines ; 

but  the  third,  after  losing  three-fourths  of  its  number,  was, 

with  the  women  and  children,  driven  back  into  the  town 

which  they  still   for  two  days  bravely  defended.     Finally, 

rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  the  survivors 

set  fire  to  the  powder  and  all  heroically  perished  together. 

Nor  was  the  outbreak  on  Pelion  in  1878,  which  preceded 

the  liberation  from  Ottoman  rule  of  Thessaly,  without  its 

heroines.     The  daughters  and  sisters  of  the 

Heroines        patriots  braved  the  whizzing  rifle  bullets  and 
or  Pelion.         r  ' » 

the  risk  of  capture  in  order  to  carry  food 

and  water  to  their  male  relatives  holding  the  entrenchments 

on  the  hill  above  the  town  of  Volo,  which  is  dotted  with 

Greek  villages.     The  name  of  Marighitza,   a  girl  belonging 

to  the  village  of  Makrinitza,  was  more  especially  mentioned 

for  intrepidity ;  and  when  the  insurrection  was  over  she  was 

sent  for  to  Athens  to  be  presented  to  the  King  and  Queen 

and  feted  by  the  inhabitants.     A  far  more  sensational  story 

connected  with  this  rising  is,   however,   that   of   a  woman 

named  Peristera — "  The  Pigeon,"  who  was,  it  appears,  an 

actual  combatant  in  the  struggle,  during  which  her  brother 

met  his  death.     On  the  cessation  of  hostilities  this  woman, 

disguising  her  sex,  joined  a  band  of  brigands,  of  whom  she 

became  the  leader  under  the  name  of  Vanghelli,  to  which  her 

followers  added  the  soubriquet  of  Spano,  or  "  Beardless." 

After  some  years,  the  brigand  bands  of  Olympus  were  broken 


206  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

up  by  Mehmet  Ali  Pasha,  and  Peristera,  leaving  the  mountains, 
repaired  to  the  British  Vice-Consulate  at  Larissa  and  there 
gave  in  her  submission.  The  Ottoman  authorities,  as  usual 
in  such  cases,  granted  a  pardon  to  the  penitent  brigand  who, 
being  apparently  homeless  and  friendless,  was  received 
into  the  service  of  the  Archbishop  of  Kodjani.  A  photograph 
in  my  possession  represents  her  as  a  rather  short  and  sturdy 
woman,  plain  of  feature,  dressed  in  the  usual  brigand  costume 
of  dirty  white  fustanella  and  shirt,  braided  vest  and  jacket, 
and  wearing  suspended  round  her  neck  by  a  silver  chain  the 
insignia  of  chieftainship — a  large  silver  disk  bearing  the 
St.  George  and  Dragon  in  low  relief. 

^  Not  alone  during  national  crises,  however,  have  Greek 
women  exchanged  distaff  and  spindle  for  sword  and  tophdiki. 
For  occasionally  to  them — as  to  their  Bulgarian  sisters — the 
charms  of  a  life  in  the  greenwood  has  proved  as  irresistible 
as  they  were  to  Maid  Marian  of  Sherwood  Forest,  and  various 
folk-songs  relate  how — 

"  For  twelve  long  years  had  Haidee  lived  an  Armatole  and  Klephte, 
And  no  one  had  her  secret  learned  among  her  ten  companions," 

until  one  Easter  Sunday  when,  engaged  in  athletic  exercises 
with  the  other  pallikars,  her  sex  was  accidentally  disclosed. 

In  Greece  women  exercise  little,  if  any,  influence  in  politics, 
though  even  here  there  have  been  instances  of  ladies  who, 

towards  the   end   of  the   last   century,   con- 
'Laandieg0pic     tributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  success  of 

at  least  two  eminent  politicians.  Those 
of  the  wealthy  class,  on  the  other  hand,  nowadays  devote 
a  considerable  part  of  their  leisure  to  such  philanthropic 
work  as  the  direction  of  the  hospitals,  orphanages  and  other 
charitable  institutions  which,  in  the  East,  supply  the  place 
of  parish  relief  and  the  workhouse,  and  thus  prevent  the 
formation  of  a  pauper  class  in  the  population.  One  of  these 
excellent  institutions,  founded  so  long  ago  as  1855,  and  called 
the  Amalieion  in  honour  of  the  Queen  of  Greece  who  was  its 
fil  st  patroness,  is  directed  by  a  committee  of  which  four  members 


A   GREEK   LADY    IN    NATIONAL   DRESS 


Home  Life  and  Women's  Work  207 

are  women.  Though  nominally  an  orphanage  for  girls,  the 
daughters  of  necessitous  parents  are  also  received,  the  majority 
of  the  inmates,  about  140  in  number,  being  natives  of  Athens 
and  the  vicinity.  The  girls  are  taught,  in  addition  to  plain 
sewing  in  all  its  branches,  embroidery,  lace-making,  straw- 
plaiting  ;  they  also  spin  and  weave  the  materials  for  their  own 
clothing,  and  perform  at  the  same  time  all  the  domestic  work 
of  the  establishment.  The  girls  may  remain  in  the  orphanage 
up  to  the  age  of  twenty-three  or  thereabouts  ;  but  as  they 
are  much  sought  after  as  ladies'  maids  or  seamstresses  in 
private  families,  the  directresses  have  little  difficulty  in 
placing  them  out  in  the  world  to  earn  their  own  living.  They 
also  soon  find  husbands,  as  the  endowments  of  the  institution 
enable  it  to  provide  dowries  of  from  £40  to  £80,  when  the 
suitor  is  approved  of.  The  "  Home  for  Incurables  "  at 
Athens  is  also  managed  by  a  committee  of  twenty  ladies, 
and  both  the  Children's  Hospital  and  the  large  general 
hospital  known  as  the  Evangelismos  are  directed  by  women. 

During  the  disastrous  war  of  1897,  a  band  of  patriotic  ladies, 
headed  by  Madame  Parren,  and  styling  themselves  the 
"  The  Union  "  Union  of  Hellenic  Women,"  set  on  foot 
of  Hellenic  an  organisation  for  social  work  and  national 
Women."  service.  The  first  work  of  the  Union  was  the 
support,  with  funds  provided  by  the  late  King,  of  the 
necessitous  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  had  fallen 
in  the  war,  the  movement  subsequently  developing  into  an 
important  institution  comprising  various  sections.  Among 
these  are  a  training  school  for  eighty  female  teachers,  an  in- 
dustrial school  for  over  200  girls,  and  an  organisation  for  the 
support  of  superannuated  domestic  servants.  Others  provide 
medical  advice  and  nursing  for  the  sick  poor  in  their  own 
homes,  take  measures  for  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis,  and 
carry  out  other  important  sanitary  work.  Lectures  are  also 
delivered  on  such  subjects  as  nursing  and  general  hygiene. 
Two  devoted  ladies  direct  an  establishment  for  the  employ- 
ment of  400  women  and  girl  immigrants  from  the  provinces. 


208  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

In  this  "  Workshop  for  Destitute  Women  " — usually  termed 
more  briefly  the  "  Poor  Girls  " — the  younger  children  receive 
an  elementary  education  at  the  same  time  as  technical 
instruction  ;  the  elder  girls  and  the  women  are  engaged  in 
the  production  of  various  fabrics,  including  silk  stuffs,  carpets 
and  curtains,  lace  and  embroidery ;  while  those  past  such  work 
perform  the  simpler  tasks  of  combing,  carding,  and  spinning 
the  wool  and  flax  used  by  the  more  able-bodied. 

The  "  Royal  Hellenic  School  of  Needlework  "  at  Athens, 
though  originally  founded  by  Lady  Egerton  to  supply  weaving 

work  to  the  female  refugees  from  Thessaly, 
The  Royal  must  also  not  be  omitted  from  the  list  of  insti- 
Needlework.      tutions    for    the    benefit  of  women.     On  the 

departure  of  this  lady  from  Athens  the 
presidency  of  the  School  was  accepted  by  Princess  Nicholas, 
and  within  a  few  years  of  its  foundation  it  had  developed 
into  an  important  and  permanent  establishment,  housed 
in  a  building  specially  constructed  with  funds  provided 
by  the  King  on  land  generously  given  for  the  purpose  by  a 
French  lady  well  known  for  her  ardent  philhellenism.  This 
institution  has  now  five  provincial  branches  and  employs  some 
500  women  and  girls  in  reproducing  the  various  kinds  of  lace 
and  embroidery  for  which  South-eastern  Europe  has  always 
been  renowned,  as  well  as  the  Italian  varieties  introduced 
centuries  ago  into  those  regions  by  the  Venetians.  Some  of 
the  designs  emanating  from  the  central  School  at  Athens, 
which  directs  the  various  branches,  have  been  copies  from 
objects  unearthed  at  Mykenae,  Knossos  and  elsewhere; 
others  are  Byzantine  or  mediaeval  Italian.  The  branches 
have  each  a  local  specialty,  fine  white  linen  work  being  pro- 
duced at  Corinth,  at  Koropi  the  heavy  embroidery  similar 
to  that  used  by  the  Albanian  settlers  for  bordering  their 
native  costumes,  while  Aigina  excels  in  the  making  of  a 
point  de  Milan  lace.  The  work  of  the  School  generally  is 
disposed  of  at  its  dep&t  in  Athens,  as  also  by  Liberty  &  Co. 
in  London,  and  at  an  agency  in  Cairo. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Family  Ceremonies 

/  Birth  and  Baptismal  Observances 

As  already  indicated  in  previous  chapters,  survivals  of  pagan 
beliefs  still  hold  sway  over  the  minds  of  the  Greek  populace, 

and  are  connected  with  every  detail  of 
Survivals.        domestic  life.     These  remnants  of  an  ancient 

civilisation  linger  especially,  together  with  a 
variety  of  other  old-world  customs,  round  the  important 
family  events  of  birth,  marriage  and  death— the  "  Three 
Evils  of  Destiny  "  elsewhere  referred  to, 1  varying  somewhat 
according  to  locality  and  degree  of  contact  with  other  national- 
ities, but  remaining  the  same  in  their  general  features.  In 
northern  Greece  the  arrival  of  the  little  stranger  is  awaited 
in  silence  by  the  mamme,  or  midwife,  and  a  group  of  elderly 
matrons  whose  presence  and  prayers  keep  away  "  all  things 
harmful."  The  baby  gains  its  first  experience  of  the  miseries 
of  life  by  being  pickled  in  salt  and  water  ;  after  which  it  is 
enveloped  in  innumerable  garments  of  mysterious  form  and 
fashion.  The  glad  news  has  meantime  circulated  through  the 
household,  who  flock  into  the  room  to  offer  their  felicitations. 
These   are   generally  couched   in   the   conventional  phrases, 

Fear  "  May    **    liVC    t0    y°U'"    and    "  Lon£  life  to 

Nereids.         **  '  " — tne  latter  salutation  being  also  addressed 

to  the  unconscious  infant.     Mother  and  child 

must  now,  at  least  until  its  baptism,  be  carefully  watched 

over,    and    never    left    unattended,    as    the   Nereids  of  the 

fountains  and  springs  are  sure  to  be  hovering  over  a  dwelling 

in  which  a  birth  has  recently  taken  place,  on  the  look-out 

for  an  opportunity  of  exchanging  one  of  their  own  fractious 

1  See  p.   182. 

209 

14— (2385) 


210  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

offspring  for  a  mortal  babe.  For  the  manners  and  customs 
of  these  dreaded  beings  strongly  resemble  those  of  our  northern 
fairies,  thus  described  by  Ben  Jonson — 

"  When  larks  'gin  spring, 

Away  we  fling, 
And  babes  new-born  steal  as  we  go  ; 

An  elf  in  bed 

We  leave  instead, 
And  wind  out  laughing,  Ho,  Ho,  Ho  !  "  ! 

In  Rhodes,  no  stranger  save  the  mamme  is  on  any  account 
allowed  to  enter  the  house  until  the  baby  has  been  blessed  by 
the  priest  ;  and  for  forty  days  after  its  birth  the  house  door 
is  kept  shut  between  sunset  and  sunrise,  for  fear  of  the 
Nereids.  These  mystic  folk,  it  would  appear,  imitate  some  of 
the  ceremonials  of  mortals.  A  friend  of  mine  once  asked 
a  countrywoman  from  whom  she  was  purchasing  some 
embroideries  why  such  work  was  so  often  soiled  or  stained  ; 
and  the  woman  replied  quite  seriously  that  it  was  the  doing 
of  the  Nereids,  who  often  borrowed  these  articles  for  their 
christenings  and  weddings. 

The  mother  rises  on  the  third  day,  and  walks  round  her  bed 
in  a  stream  of  water  which  the  mamme  pours  before  her  from 
a  jar.  The  meaning  of  this  rite  is  not  very  clear  ;  but,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  other  observances  and  also  with  the 
similar  custom  observed  on  the  wedding  day,  it  would  appear 
to  be  either  a  libation  to  the  earth,  or  a  tribute  to  the  water 
deities.     On  the  fifth  day  the  Fates  must  be 

o^the*  Fates  propitiated  in  order  to  induce  them  to  confer 
upon  the  infant  favours  which  will  influence 
its  future  career.  In  the  case  of  a  boy,  coins  of  gold  and 
silver,  a  sword,  and  a  cake  of  bread  are  placed  in  the  cradle 
to  remind  the  "  Dealers  out  of  Destinies  "  that  fortune, 
valour,  and  abundance  are  desired  for  him  ;    a  distaff  or 

1  Compare  Halhwell,  Fairy  Mythology,  p.  169.  See  also  Shakes- 
peare, Henry  IV,  Part  I,  Act  1,  ad;  and  Brand's  Popular  Antiquities, 
Vol.  II.  p.  484. 


Family  Ceremonies  211 

spindle  being  substituted  for  the  sword  in  the  case  of  a  girl, 
intimating  the  value  placed  on  feminine  industry. 

The  christening  generally  takes  place  before  the  infant  is 
a  week  old,  and  is  made  the  occasion  of  much  display.     For 

it  is  remarkable  that  the  more  secluded  the 
GGodamoetherasnd  domestic  Hfe  of  a  people,  the  greater  is  the 

publicity  given  to  ceremonies  connected 
with  family  events.  The  groomsman  and  chief  bridesmaid 
who  have  officiated  at  the  wedding  of  the  parents  become 
sponsors  for  the  children  under  the  names  of  nono  and  nond 
and  syntekhnoi  to  the  father  and  mother.  For,  among 
members  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  the  terms  "  God- 
father "  and  "  Godmother  "  are  by  no  means  the  empty 
titles  into  which  they  have,  generally  speaking,  degenerated 
with  us.  The  responsibilities  undertaken  by  baptismal 
sponsors  are  religiously  fulfilled,  and  they  are  treated  by  their 
godchildren  with  an  affectionate  respect  little  less  than  that 
accorded  to  their  parents  according  to  the  flesh.  The  children 
of  both  families  are  considered  brothers  and  sisters,  and  a 
relationship  is  presumed  which  forms  as  complete  a  bar  to 
intermarriage  as  the  closest  consanguinity.  A  man  could 
not,  for  instance,  wed  a  widow  if  he  had  stood  sponsor  for  her 
children  at  the  font,  and  a  Greek  would  as  soon  think  of 
marrying  his  own  sister  as  the  daughter  of  his  nono.  In  some 
of  the  islands  it  has  indeed  become  difficult  for  the  young 
people  of  the  better  class  to  find  spouses,  so  closely  are  they 
already  connected  by  intermarriages  and  baptisms. 

The  expenses  of  the  christening  are  borne  by  the  nono,  who 
pays  the  priest's  fees,  buys  the  baptismal  robe,  and  supplies 

the  bonbons,  liqueurs,  and  other  customary 
a^eSy      refreshments.      The     Greek     Church     prides 

itself,  and  probably  with  reason,  on  keeping 
up  primitive  forms  more  strictly  than  the  Roman  Catholic, 
or  any  other.  Baptism  is  therefore  performed,  not  by  a 
conventional  sprinkling,  but  by  trine  immersion.  The  baby 
is  carried  to  church  by  the  mamme,  and  followed  by  a   long 


212  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

irregular  procession  composed  or  sponsors,  relatives  and 
invited  guests.  The  nono  takes  the  infant  from  the  nurse's 
arms  and  holds  it  while  making  the  customary  responses  to 
the  preliminary  prayers  read  by  the  pappas.  He  then  delivers 
the  infant  to  the  priest,  who  makes  with  its  body  the  sign  of 
the  cross.  While  the  preparations  for  its  immersion  are  being 
made  the  baby  is  laid  before  an  eikon  of  Christ  or  the  Virgin, 
according  to  its  sex,  and  is  then  undressed  and  handed  to 
the  priest  who  dips  it  three  times  in  the  font,  to  the  water  of 
which  has  been  added  a  few  drops  of  "  holy  oil."  Three  tiny 
locks  of  hair,  if  these  can  be  found,  are  then  cut  from  the 
infant's  head  and  thrown  into  the  font  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity.  This  dedication  of  hair  was  no  doubt  originally  a 
sacrifice  to  the  elementary  spirits,  the  water  from  the  font 
being  emptied  into  a  pit  or  well  under  the  floor  of  the  church. l 
Then  follows  the  "  confirmation  "  of  the  infant,  which 
consists  in  anointing  the  head  and  certain  parts  of  the  body 

with  consecrated  oil.     It  is  then  dressed,  and 
Confirmation      after  being  carried  three  times  round  the  font 

by  the  godmother,  while  prayers  are  intoned, 
is  carried  to  the  "  Holy  Gates,"  or  Sanctuary,  where  it 
receives  the  Communion  in  both  kinds,  administered,  as 
customary  in  the  Eastern  Church,  in  a  spoon.  The  party 
then  return  to  the  house  to  congratulate  the  mother  and  par- 
take of  refreshments.  Trays  of  comfits  of  various  kinds, 
either  white  or  silvered,  are  handed  round  and  taken  in  hand- 
fuls  ;  and,  on  leaving,  a  tiny  gilt  cross  attached  to  a  white 
rosette  is  pinned  on  the  breast  of  each  guest  as  a  souvenir 
of  the  occasion. 

II  Marriage  Customs 
The  prohibited  degrees  of  relationship,  both  natural  and 
conventional,  are  not  only  more  numerous  but  also  more 

1  This  supposition,  questioned  when  advanced  some  years  ago, 
has  been  more  than  confirmed  by  Mr.  Paton  in  his  paper  on  The  Holy 
Names  of  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
International  Folk-lore  Congress  of  1891. 


Family  Ceremonies  213 

rigorously  observed  in  the  Greek  than  in  the   Latin  Church, 
no  powers  of  granting  special   dispensations  being  vested  in 
the  Patriarchal  Office,  as  in  the  Papal.     Occa- 
Prohibited       sionally  one  has  heard  of  instances  of  marriage 
egrees.        between   second   cousins  being  celebrated  by 
the  inferior  clergy  under  the  influence  of  bribery.     Such  unions 
have,  however,  invariably  been  annulled  as  illegal,  and  the 
unfortunate  parties  whose  mutual  attachment  has  led  them 
thus  to  violate  the  canonical  law  were,  under  pain  of  ex- 
communication, commanded  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  to 
renounce  for  ever  each  other's  society. 

Among  the  middle  and  upper  classes  of  Greeks  it  is  no 
longer  customary  for  weddings  to  be  solemnised  in  church, 
the  religious  as  well  as  the  secular  part  of  the  ceremony  being 
performed  at  the  home  of  the  bride,  where  a  substitute  for  the 
altar  is  arranged  in  the  principal  reception  room.  These 
marriage  ceremonies  usually  take  place  either  in  the  afternoon 
or  at  a  somewhat  late  hour  in  the  evening,  when  the  cere- 
monies of  betrothal  and  marriage,  which  were  formerly, 
and  still  are  among  the  people,  celebrated  on  separate  occasions 
now  form  part  of  the  same  ceremony.  These  innovations, 
which  the  clergy — however  they  may,  and  do,  deplore  them — 
seem  powerless  to  resist,  deprive  the  marriage  ceremonial 
of  all  solemnity,  as  the  company  at  such  functions  behave  as 
a  rule  with  an  absolute  lack  of  reverence,  often  talking  and 
joking  even  while  the  prayers  incidental  to  the  service  are 
being  intoned.  But  though  so  many  of  the  old  customs 
formerly  observed  in  connection  with  weddings  have  thus 
been  abandoned  in  the  towns,  many  curious  and  interesting 
usages  still  survive  among  the  village  and  island  folk.  These 
ancient  folk-customs  vary  somewhat  in  their  minor  details 
according  to  locality,  but  in  their  leading  features  they  are 
everywhere  identical,  there  being  more  or  less  similar  cere- 
monies of  betrothal,  with  songs  for  each  successive  stage 
of  the  week's  festivities,  whether  they  take  place  in  the 
Peloponnesos,  in  central  or  northern  Greece,  or  in  the  Islands. 


214  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

The  amount  of  the  bride's  dowry  agreed  upon  between 
the   parents   of   the   contracting  parties,   the   girl's   mother 
and    the    -proxenites,    according   to    ancient 
Betrothal*       custom,    eat    cinnamon    together,    and    the 
formal  betrothal  takes  place.     The  arravon- 
istikds,  accompanied  by  his  relatives,  proceeds  to  the  home 
of  his  future  wife  where  the  party  are  received  with  great 
formality,  the  anavonistike  standing  in  a  posture  of  affected 
modesty  and  humility,   with  hands  crossed  on  her  breast 
and  downcast  eyes,  to  receive  their  felicitations,  a  custom 
which   has   given   rise   to   the   common    Greek     expression, 
"  Affected  as  a  bride."     When  all  the  customary  compliments 
have  been  exchanged,  the  inevitable  glyko  x  is  handed  round, 
followed  by  coffee  and  cigarettes,  and  the  party  take  their 
leave.     The  maiden  accompanies  them  to  the  head  of  the 
staircase,  and  there  is  presented  by  each  in  turn  with  gold 
coins  and  sprays  of  sweet  basil — a  herb  which  plays  a  great 
part  in  Oriental  symbolisms — kissing  the  hand    of    each  in 
acknowledgment    of    their    gifts    and    good    wishes.       The 
interval  between  the  first  arravon  and  the  wedding  varies, 
but  seldom  extends  over  many  months,  and  one  seldom  hears 
of  an  engagement  being  broken  off  in  the  meantime. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  customs  connected  with  the 
marriage  ceremony  are  to  be  found  in  central  and  northern 
Greece    where    a    whole   week    is  dedicated 
Wedding        to  the  preliminary  nuptial  observances  and 
festivities.     On     the     Sunday     preceding     a 
wedding  a  copy  of  the  marriage  contract  is  formally  delivered 
at  the  house  of  the  bridegroom,  who  sends  in  return  to  the 
bride  a  present  of  bonbons,  henna,  rouge,  soap,  etc.,  and  to  her 
parents  a  jar  of  wine.     On  Monday,  the  girl  friends  of  the 
bride  arrive  to  help  her  to  sift  and  carry  to  the  mill  the  grain 
of  which  the  wedding  cakes  are  to  be  made.     On  the  Wednes- 
day morning  they  bring  home  the  flour,  and  assist  in  the  mak- 
ing  of   the   cakes.      The   long   wooden    kneading-trough   is 
1  See  pp.  151,  156. 


Family  Ceremonies  215 

brought  in  and  filled  ;  a  boy  armed  with  a  sword  seats  himself 
on  one  end,  while  on  the  other  is  perched  a  tiny  maiden, 
who,  as  she  pretends  to  knead  the  dough,  hides  in  it  the  wedding 
ring  and  some  coins.  The  boy  with  his  weapon  signifies  that 
the  husband  is  the  guardian  of  the  home,  and  the  kneading 
girl  that  domestic  duties  are  woman's  sphere.  Bright  and 
joyful  must  the  lives  of  these  little  ones  have  been,  and 
unclouded  by  any  family  bereavement.  The  cake-making 
is  then  proceeded  with  in  earnest  by  experienced  hands 
amid  song  and  laughter— for  these  occasions  are  red-letter 
days  in  the  monotonous  lives  of  the  Greek  women  of  the 
interior — and  then  left  till  the  morrow  to  "  rise."  In  the 
morning  the  kneaders  reassemble  and  the  dough  is  divided 
into  portions,  each  woman  and  girl  searching  in  her  lump  for 
the  ring  and  coins,  the  former  being  subsequently  redeemed 
by  the  bridegroom  with  a  present  to  its  lucky  finder.     The 

dough  is  then  returned  to  the  trough,  and 

Making  the      made  into  a  variety  of  cakes — among  them  a 

^akes!8        larSe   one   called   the   propkasto— which   are 

forthwith  baked.  In  the  afternoon  the  bride- 
groom arrives  with  his  friends,  the  propkasto  is  placed  over  a 
bowl  of  water,  and  round  it  the  assembled  youths  and  maidens 
dance  three  times,  singing  meanwhile  the  "  Song  of  the 
Wedding  Cake."  The  propkasto  is  forthwith  broken  into 
small  pieces  which,  together  with  figs  and  other  fruits,  are 
showered  over  the  heads  of  the  young  couple  ;  and  while  the 
children  are  scrambling  on  the  floor  for  these  a  quilt  is  thrown 
over  them  as  a  further  emblem  of  fruitfulness  and  plenty. 
On  Friday  the  bride  and  bridegroom  exchange  presents. 
The  bearers  of  the  bridegroom's  gifts  set  out  in  procession, 
preceded  by  music  ;  and  after  being  warmly  welcomed  and 
refreshed  with  wine  and  wedding-cakes,  and  in  turn  entrusted 
with  the  bride's  presents  to  her  betrothed,  carefully  enveloped 
in  embroidered  boktchas,  as  bundle-wraps  are  termed,  and 
tied  up  with  strands  of  the  flat  tinsel  thread  termed  blira, 
which  figures  largely  in  such  ceremonies. 


216  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

If  the  bridegroom's  home  is  in  the  same  neighbourhood  as 
that  of  the  bride,  parties  of  the  near  relatives  of  the  couple 
go  from  house  to  house,  bearing  invitations  to  all  the  guests 
who  are  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  of  that  evening  and  the 
following  day,  a  ceremony  also  extended  to  the  bride  and 
bridegroom,  each  of  whom  invites  the  other.  The  koumbdros 
and  koumbdra — groomsman  and  chief  bridesmaid — are  the  last 
called  upon,  and  accompanied  by  music,  are  escorted  to  the 
house  of  rejoicing.  Singing,  dancing  and  feasting  occupy  the 
time  until  the  evening,  when  the  girls  carry  off  the  bride  to 
perform  part  of  her  toilette  for  the  morrow.  After  washing, 
perfuming,  and  perhaps  dyeing  her  hair  with 
ttje  Bride.  henna,  they,  amid  jokes  and  laughter,  plait 
it  in  innumerable  braids,  one  after  another 
meanwhile  bursting  into  a  song  suited  to  the  occasion  and 
of  a  highly  complimentary  character. x  The  bridegroom  has, 
in  the  meantime,  been  conducted  by  his  companions  to  another 
room  where  the  local  barber  proceeds  to  shave  him  carefully, 
considerable  time,  as  is  usual  in  the  East,  being  devoted  to  the 
operation,  this  ceremony  also  being  enlivened  with  music 
and  complimentary  songs. 

As  there  are  "  lucky  "  and  "  unlucky  "  days  for  every 
incident  of  domestic  life,  Sunday  is  considered  the  most 
auspicious  for  the  termination  of  a  country  wedding.  On  the 
morning  of  this  day,  accordingly,  friends  and  relatives  assemble 
at  the  home  of  the  bridegroom,  embrace  and  congratulate  him 
on  the  auspicious  event,  and  escort  him  to  the  home  of  the 
bride.  As  they  leave  the  house,  his  mother,  in  accordance 
with  ancient  custom,  pours  a  libation  of  water  before  him  at 
the  gate,  and  lays  across  his  path  a  girdle  over  which  he  steps. 
If  the  parties  are  well-to-do,  and  the  distance  is  long,  he  may 
ride  to  the  ceremony  ;  but  most  frequently  the  procession 
takes  its  way  on  foot,  with  music  and  song,  calling  in  turn 
for  the  koumbdros    and   koumbdra.     On    the   arrival   of    the 

1  A  selection  of  these  nuptial  songs  is  included  in  my  translations 
of  Greek  Folkpoesy,  Vol.  I. 


Sibah 


Constantinople 


THE   MAMME 


Family  Ceremonies  217 

bridegroom  and  his  party  the  ceremony  commences  with  the 

exchange  of  the  documents  containing  the  marriage  contracts, 

which  are  presented  by  the  priest  to  the  respective  parents 

of  the  bride  and  bridegroom.     The  amount 

TBetrothalld       of    the    dowry    is   then    Paid    in    Cash   t0    th" 
bridegroom,  some  of  whose  friends  convey  it 

to  his  residence.  The  second  arravon  or  betrothal,  a  ceremony 
similar  to  that  observed  by  the  ancient  Greeks,  now  takes 
place.  The  bride's  father,  or  her  nearest  male  relative, 
offers  to  the  corresponding  relative  of  the  bridegroom  some 
sprigs  of  sweet  basil  on  a  plate  with  the  words,  thrice  repeated  : 
"  Accept  the  betrothal  of  my  daughter  to  your  son,"  the  same 
ceremony  being  repeated  by  the  other  party.  A  male  relative 
of  the  bride  then  presents  on  her  part  to  her  future  spouse  a 
glass  of  wine,  a  kouloura,  or  ring-shaped  cake,  and  a  spoon. 
After  drinking  the  wine,  the  bridegroom  drops  some  coins 
into  the  glass  for  the  bride,  eats  half  the  cake,  and  gives  the 
remainder,  with  the  spoon,  into  the  keeping  of  the  koumbdros. 1 
Another  envoy  from  the  bride  now  comes  up  to  gird  the 
bridegroom,  and  while  doing  this  essays  to  lift  him  off  his  feet, 
the  happy  man  resisting  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  These  pre- 
liminaries are  then  concluded  by  the  "  best  man  "  in  somewhat 
prosaic  fashion,  for  it  is  now  his  duty  and  privilege  to  put  on 
the  bride's  feet  the  shoes  provided  by  the  bridegroom. 

Bedizened  in  all  her  bridal  finery,  her  rouged  and  spangled 
cheeks  partly  concealed  by  a  gauze  veil,  over  which  hangs 

a  long  tinsel  tassel,  the  maiden  walks  forth 
TCer^Sonyfe    into  the  street-  stepping  through  a  libation 

of  water  poured  by  her  mother  on  the  thresh- 
old. The  musicians  strike  up  a  wedding  march,  and  hymeneal 
songs  are  chanted  as  the  procession  passes  slowly  to  the 
church.  At  the  door  her  future  mother-in-law  accosts  her 
with  the  question  :    "  Bride,  hast  thou  the  shoes  ?  "  and  this 

1  This  form  of  marriage  resembles  the  Latin  Confarreatio,  so  named 
from  the  central  rite  in  which  the  man  and  woman  ate  together  a 
circular  cake  called  the  panis  farreus. 


218  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

being  satisfactorily  answered,  the  procession  enters  the  sacred 
edifice.  Carrying  tapers  decorated  with  flowers  and  knots  of 
white  ribbon,  the  bridal  pair  advance  to  the  Holy  Table,  the 
bride  standing  on  the  bridegroom's  left.  The  third  arravon 
is  now  performed  by  the  priest  who,  after  reading  part  of  the 
ritual,  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  the  rings  three  times 
over  the  heads  of  the  couple,  and  then  places  them  on  their 
respective  hands,  saying,  "  Give  thy  troth,  servant  of  God 
(adding  the  man's  name),  to  the  servant  of  God  (adding  the 
woman's  name),  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  priest  then  takes  the  wedding  "  crowns  " — 
constructions  of  white  artificial  flowers  connected  by  lengths 
of  white  satin  ribbon — and  places  them  on  the  heads  of  the 
couple  with  the  words,  "  Crown  thyself,  servant  of  God,"  etc., 
as  above.  The  groomsman,  standing  behind  the  pair,  inter- 
changes the  wreaths  several  times,  the  priest  repeating  these 
words  meanwhile.  All  three  then  partake  of  consecrated 
wine  from  a  cup,  which  is  forthwith  broken,  and  the  pair, 
holding  each  other's  hands,  are  led  three  times  round  the 
Holy  Table,  the  best  man  following  with  his  hands  on  the 
"  crowns."  The  remainder  of  the  liturgy  chanted — with 
nasal  intonation  and  many  repetitions  of  Kyrie  eleison — the 
priest  removes  the  wreath  of  the  bridegroom  and  then  that 
of  the  bride,  pronouncing  meanwhile,  in  scriptural  language, 
a  blessing  on  their  union. 

The    koumbdros    having  set  the  example  of  kissing  both 
bride  and  bridegroom,  the  assembled  friends  crowd  round  to 
offer  also  their  felicitations.     On  the  return  of  the  party  to  the 
bride's  home,  her  mother  places  a  loaf  on  the  heads  of  the 
couple  while  comfits  are  showered  over  them  by  the  rest  of  the 
company.     The  wedding  feast  follows,  and  is 
TFarfwedll.'S      Prolonged  until  the  hour  of  the  bride's  depar- 
ture.    After  drinking  healths,  the  glasses  are 
thrown  away  over  the  shoulder,  it   being  considered  a  bad 
omen  if  they  are  not  broken.     Then  comes  the  farewell  to 
the  dear  paternal  home,   which  is  expressed  in  many  simple 


Family  Ceremonies  219 

but  touching  folk-songs,  chanted  while  the  bride  is  weeping 
in  her  mother's  arms.  As  the  bride  crosses  the  threshold, 
a  loaf  is  divided,  one  half  of  which  she  takes  to  her  new  home. 
The  guests  now  escort  the  young  couple  to  the  village  green 
with  hymeneal  songs,  and  after  there  dancing  the  syrto, 
conduct  the  happy  pair,  with  more  music  and  singing,  to  the 
paternal  home  of  the  bridegroom. 

On  the  following  morning,  friends  again  assemble  before  the 

house  to  greet  the  young  couple  with  songs  and  music.     The 

koumbdros  arrives  to  breakfast,  bringing  with 

Propitiating       him  thg  half  cake  and  the  spoon  confided  to 

the  Nereids.  , 

his  care  on  the  preceding  day,1  the  former 

being  eaten  and  the  latter  used  by  the  bride  at  this  meal. 
On  its  conclusion  she  proceeds,  accompanied  by  her  women 
and  girl  friends,  to  the  well  from  which  her  husband's  family 
draw  their  supply  of  water,  in  order  to  perform  the  ceremony 
observed  from  time  immemorial  of  propitiating  the  "  Nereids 
of  the  Spring  "  with  the  gift  of  a  coin  dropped  into  it  from  her 
lips.  She  then  draws  a  pail  of  water,  and  fills  with  it  one  of 
those  gracefully  shaped  red  earthen  jars  called  by  the  modern 
Greeks  stamni,  which  she  carries  home  poised  on  her  shoulder. 
On  entering  the  house,  the  bride  pours  a  little  of  the  water 
over  the  hands  of  her  husband,  and  presents  him  with  a  towel 
on  which  to  dry  them,  receiving  in  return  a  little  gift.  Feasting 
and  dancing  occupy  the  rest  of  the  day,  after  which  the  young 
wife  settles  down  quietly  in  her  new  home,  relieving  her 
mother-in-law  of  many  household  duties.  On  the  following 
Friday,  however,  the  bride,  accompanied  by  her  husband, 
returns  to  spend  twenty-four  hours  under  the  parental  roof 
and  pays  her  mother  another  visit  on  the  subsequent  Wednes- 
day, when  she  takes  with  her  a  bottle  of  the  native  spirit  called 
mastika,  bringing  back  with  her  an  equal  quantity  from  the 

1  This  custom  of  the  best  man  taking  the  spoon  with  him  may  have 
some  connection  with  an  episode  which  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
Greek  folk-tale,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Geldart's  translation 
of  the  Greek  Cinderella  story  in  Folk-lore  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  30. 


220  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

family  store,  the  nuptial  observances  being  finally  terminated 
three  days  afterwards  by  a  feast  offered  by  the  bride's  father 
to  all  the  relatives  of  the  young  couple. 

Ill  Funeral   Ceremonies 

Among  the  Greeks,  as  with  the  Keltic  Races,  funerals  are 

attended   with   rites   of    symbolic    import,    which    are   most 

carefully  observed  in   their  minutest   detail. 

r°Customea  ^he  ceremonies  observed  in  connection  with 
death  and  burial  are  also  almost  everywhere 
identical,  and  include  many  archaic  customs  and  time- 
honoured  traditions  in  association  with  the  rites  of  the 
Eastern  Church. 

When  the  end  of  a  sick  person  is  believed  to  be  approaching, 
the  priest  is  summoned  to  administer  to  him  the  last  sacra- 
ments. If  the  death  struggle  appears  prolonged,  the  friends 
of  the  moribund  conclude  that  some  person  or  persons  must 
be  at  enmity  with  him,  and  use  their  best  endeavours  to  bring 
to  his  bedside  anyone  whom  he  may  have  wronged.  Should 
such  an  injured  person  be  dead,  a  small  portion  of  his  shroud 
will,  if  possible,  be  obtained.  This  is  laid  on  a  pan  of  charcoal 
embers,  and  the  dying  man  fumigated  with  the  smoke  arising 
therefrom,  when  the  hostility  of  its  owner  is  believed  to 
cease,  and  the  soul  be  able  to  depart  in  peace.  The  family 
then  gather  round  to  take  their  last  farewell  and  cheer  the 
fleeting  moments  of  the  departing  spirit.  After  the  first 
burst  of  natural  grief  is  exhausted,  the  body  is  left  to  the 
ministrations  of  the  "  washers  of  the  dead,"  and,  the  cus- 
tomary ablutions  performed,  it  is  anointed  with  oil  and  wine, 
and  sprinkled  with  earth.  A  clean  mattress  and  bed-linen 
are  then  spread  on  a  long  table,  and  on  this  the  deceased  is 
laid,  dressed  in  his  or  her  best  raiment,  with  the  feet  pointing 
towards  the  doorway  and  the  hands  crossed  on  the  breast, 
on  which  a  cup  is  also  placed.  The  bier  is  decked  with  fresh 
flowers   and  green   branches,   and  three   large  wax  tapers, 


Family  Ceremonies  221 

ranged  at  the  foot,  are  kept  burning  continually.  A  large 
stone  is  also  brought  into  the  room  and  left  there  for  three 
days,  a  custom  which  appears  to  commemorate  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ. 

Greek  women  have  in  all  times  played  a  conspicuous  part 
in  funeral  observances,  and  from  the  days  of  Antigone  the 
fulfilment  of  the  rites  of  sepulture  has  been 
Dirges  observed    by    them    as    one    of    their    most 

sacred  duties.  Homer  describes  how  Andro- 
mache chanted  a  dirge  to  her  dead  husband  and  her  son 
Astyanax,  how  the  mother  and  sister-in-law  took  up  the  lament, 
the  burden  of  which  was  repeated  by  a  chorus  of  other  women  ; 
and  such  scenes  as  this  may  still  at  the  present  day  be  wit- 
nessed in  the  cottage  of  the  humblest  peasant.  The  female 
relatives  of  the  deceased,  with  dishevelled  hair  and  disordered 
dress,  now  come  in  to  perform  the  office  of  watchers.  Seated 
on  the  floor  around  the  bier,  they  take  it  in  turn  to  chant 
dirges — myriologia — for  the  dead,  lamenting  his  loss,  extolling 
his  virtues,  and  in  some  cases,  describing  the  manner  of  his 
death,  if  accidental  or  untimely.  These  myriologia  are 
essentially  pagan  in  sentiment.  They  contain  no  assurance 
that  the  dead  are  in  a  state  of  bliss,  no  hope  of  a  happy 
reunion  in  Paradise.  A  dying  son  can  comfort  his  mother 
only  by  directing  her  to  a  hill  on  which  grow  "  herbs  of 
forgetfulness."  The  fond  brother  would  build  for  his  sister 
a  mausoleum  in  which  she  could  sit  at  ease,  look  forth  on  the 
green  earth,  and  hear  the  birds  singing.  And  the  young 
widow  complains  that  her  husband  has  abandoned  her,  and 
wedded  instead  "  the  black  earth."  But,  as  a  rule,  the  lost 
ones  are  mourned  as  carried  off  by  the  vindictive  and  remorse- 
less Charon  from  home  and  friends  and  all  the  joys  and 

pursuits  of  the  upper  world  to  his  dreary 
of  Charon.      realm  of  Hades.     This  lower  world  is  generally 

pictured  as  a  tent,  green  or  red  outside,  but 
black  within,  where  are  held  dismal  banquets  on  the  bodies  of 
the  dead.      Charon  goes   out   hunting  on  his    black  steed, 


222  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

and  returns  laden  with  human  spoil  of  both  sexes  and  all 
ages — 

"  The  young  men  he  before  him  drives,  and  drags  the  old  behind  him, 
While  ranged  upon  his  saddle  sit  with  him  the  young  and  comely." 

Charon  is  also,  in  some  of  these  dirges,  credited  with  the 
possession  of  a  mother,  as  in  the  following  from  Nisyros, 
composed  for  a  girl  who  had  died  in  the  flower  of  her  youth — 

"  '  I   heard   the   tombstones   crying  out,   the    black  Earth,  too,   was 

trembling  ; 

And  Charon's  mother,  too,  I  heard,  and  she  her  son  was  scolding  : 

'  My  son,  you're  always  bringing  them,  to  me  you  ever  bring  them  ; 

But  this  young  maid  you  now  have  brought  weeps  still,  and  is  not 

docile. 
I  give  her  apples,  them  she  spurns,  and  throws  away  my  roses  ; 
Sweet  basil,  too,  I  bring  to  her,  and  underfoot  she  treads  it.' 
And  thus  to  her  the  maid  replies,  with  lips  by  grief  embittered, 
'  I  do  not  want  your  basil  sweet,  nor  do  I  want  your  balsams, 
My  father  dear  alone  I  want,  I  want  my  own  sweet  mother  !  '  " 

Sometimes,  however,  the  "  Black  Earth "  itself  is  per- 
sonalised as  Charon's  mother,  and  this  despotic  Lord  of  the 
Underworld  is  also  in  some  of  these  threnodies  described  as 
having  a  son,  as  in  these  lines  from  a  Thessalian  dirge — 

"  The  Sun  has  risen  clouded  o'er,  darkened  is  he  and  sullen  ; 
Say,  is  he  angry  with  the  Stars,  or  with  the  Moon  in  heaven  ? 
Or  angry  with  the  Morning  Star  that's  near  the  seven  Pleiads  ? 
He  is  not  angry  with  the  Stars,  nor  with  the  Moon  in  heaven  ; 
Nor  angry  with  the  Star  of  Morn  that's  near  the  seven  Pleiads, 
But  Charon's  making  merry  now,  he's  keeping  his  son's  wedding  ; 
And   youths  he  slays  instead  of  lambs,  and  brides   for  goats  he 

slaughters  ; 
And  he  has  ta'n  the  Widow's  Son,  no  other  Son  is  left  her,"  etc. ] 

Though  often  crudely  expressed  in  the  mixed  and  ill- 
pronounced  dialects  of  the  various  localities  to  which  they 
belong,  these  death  ballads  are  by  no  means  devoid  of  finely 
imaginative    and   poetic    ideas.      Many    are    no    doubt    of 

1  A  number  of  these  Dirges  are  included  among  the  pieces  translated 
in  my  Greek  Folkpoesy,  Vol.  I,  pp.  81-100. 


Family  Ceremonies  223 

considerable  antiquity,  and  have  been  transmitted  as  heirlooms 
from  mother  to  daughter  through  countless  generations. 
Every  woman  knows  by  heart  a  considerable  number,  suited 
to  all  circumstances  ;  and  if  these  are  found  insufficient  to 
express  the  overwrought  feelings  of  a  bereaved  mother,  wife, 
or  sister,  her  grief  will  find  vent  in  an  improvised  myriologos, 
less  measured  and  rhythmical,  perhaps,  than  the  conven- 
tional dirge,  but  equally  marked  by  touching  pathos  and 
poetic  imagery. 

The    interment    usually   takes    place    within    twenty-four 
hours  after  death.     The  invited  guests  assemble  at  the  house 

of  mourning,  bringing  with  them  flowers  to 
TCerenionyal     la^  on  the  occupant  0f  the  unclosed  coffin. 

In  Northern  Greece  the  coin  to  pay  his  passage 
across  the  Styx — the  classic  ndvlon  for  Charon — is  placed 
between  the  lips  of  the  corpse ;  in  other  localities,  and  in  some 
of  the  iEgean  islands,  in  the  hand.  In  Rhodes  it  is  customary 
to  place  on  the  mouth  of  the  dead  a  fragment  of  tile  on  which 
a  priest  has  drawn  the  mystic  sign  of  the  pentacle  and  the 
words,  "  Christ  has  conquered,"  in  order  to  prevent  his 
returning  to  earth  as  a  vampire.  Cakes  and  wine  are  handed 
round,  and  the  company,  as  they  partake  of  these  funeral 
cates,  murmur  reverentially,  "  God  rest  him."  After  the 
preliminary  prayers  have  been  offered,  the  coffin  is  taken 
up  by  the  bearers,  and  the  procession  follows  it  to  the  church. 
In  front  walk  the  priests  carrying  crosses,  and  chanting 
as  they  go  the  prayers  for  the  dead.  In  some  inland  towns 
the  relatives  chant  myriologia  all  the  way  to  church,  and  after- 
wards to  the  burial  ground.  The  coffin  is  placed  on  a  bier 
in  the  nave  of  the  church,  while  the  funeral  mass  is  performed. 
The  relatives  are  then  invited  to  give  the  deceased  the  fare- 
well kiss,  and  the  procession  sets  out  for  the  cemetery. 
Arrived  here,  the  concluding  prayers  are  said,  the  coffin  is 
closed,  and  lowered  into  the  grave.  With  a  spade  the  priest 
sprinkles  earth  over  the  coffin  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with 
the  words  "  God  rest  his  soul,"  the  male  mourners  doing  the 


224  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

same  in  turn  as  they  also  ejaculate  this  prayer.  The  funeral 
party  then  return  to  the  house  of  sorrow  where,  after  perform- 
ing a  ceremonial  ablution,  they  sit  down  to  a  repast  at  which 
fish,  eggs,  and  vegetables  are  alone  served.  The  house  must 
not  be  swept  for  three  days  after  the  dead  has  been  carried 
out  of  it,  and  the  broom  used  on  this  occasion  is  immediately 
burnt. 

The  mourning  worn  by  Greeks  of  both  sexes  is  of  a  most 
austere  character.  Ornaments  of  every  kind  are  laid  aside, 
Greek  anc*  every  article  of  dress  is  made   of  the 

Mourning  plainest  black  materials,  cotton  or  woollen, 
Customs.  CUf-  m  {kg  simplest  fashion  possible.  In  some 
districts  a  bereaved  family  will  send  all  their  clothing,  not 
excepting  underlinen  and  pocket  handkerchiefs,  to  the  dyers  ; 
ihe  result,  as  may  be  supposed,  being  funereal  in  the  extreme. 
Women,  too,  frequently  cut  off  their  hair  at  the  death  of  their 
husbands  and  bury  it  with  them  ;  men  on  the  other  hand 
allow  their  beards  to  grow  as  a  sign  of  sorrow.  Mourning  is 
also  worn  for  a  considerable  period ;  girls,  after  their  father's 
death,  do  not  abandon  it  until  they  marry,  and  widows  and 
elderly  women  invariably  retain  it  as  their  permanent  attire. 
For  in  many  country  districts  custom  does  not  allow  a  woman 
to  enter  a  second  time  into  wedlock  ;  and  a  widow  who 
ventured  thus  to  violate  public  opinion  would,  in  such  a 
locality,  be  treated  thenceforward  by  her  neighbours  with 
scant  respect. 

On  the  eve  of  the  third,  the  ninth,  the  twentieth,  and  the 

fortieth  day  after  burial,  Masses  are  performed  for  the  soul  of 

the    departed.     These    functions    are    called 

"  Kolyva  "  kolyva;  and  on  the  fortieth  kolyva  two 
sacks  of  flour  are,  among  the  well-to-do, 
converted  into  bread,  a  loaf  of  which  is  sent  to  each  family 
of  friends  as  an  invitation  to  the  commemoration  service 
to  be  held  in  the  church.  One  of  the  large  circular  copper 
pans  used  for  baking  cakes,  etc.,  having  an  upright  rim  about 
two  inches  in  height,  is  filled  with  boiled  wheat  ornamented 


Family  Ceremonies  225 

on  the  top  with  elaborate  patterns  in  dried  fruits,  sesame  seeds, 
cinnamon,  bonbons,  sweet  basil,  etc.,  and  sent  to  the  church 
to  be  blessed,  accompanied  by  a  bottle  of  wine  for  the  priests. 
This  kolyva,  already  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter,  is 
said  to  be  symbolical  of  the  death  and  rebirth  of  Nature, 
like  the  myth  of  Demeter  and  Persephone,  and  also  to  typify, 
according  to  the  Christian  doctrine,  that  man  is  "  sown  in 
corruption  and  raised  in  incorruption."  When  the  guests 
are  assembled  each  person  takes  a  handful  of  the  kolyva, 
saying  as  he  does  so,  "  God  rest  him."  On  the  following  day 
this  ceremony  is  repeated  ;  and  after  eating  a  frugal  meal 
together  the  family  and  their  friends,  accompanied  by  the 
priest,  repair  to  the  cemetery  to  erect  a  tombstone  over  the 
grave.  The  poor  of  the  neighbourhood  are  in  the  evening 
entertained  there  with  supper,  during  the  course  of  which 
good  wishes  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  departed  are 
repeatedly  expressed.  The  plates  and  other  articles  of  pottery 
and  glass  used  at  these  funeral  feasts  are  never  carried  away, 
but  are  broken,  and  the  pieces  left  on  the  spot.  Such  frag- 
ments are  usually  found,  together  with  earthenware  lamps  and 
little  terra-cotta  figures,  in  the  old  tombs  so  often  discovered 
in  the  country,  showing  that  this  custom  is  the  survival  of 
an  ancient  practice. 

During  the  forty  following  days  tapers  are  kept  burning  in 

the  house,  and  on  the  fortieth  the  genealogy  of  the  deceased 

is  read  before  the  company  again  assembled, 

Exhumation,  prayers  being  also  offered  for  the  souls  of  all 
his  ancestors.  These  ceremonies  are  repeated 
at  intervals  for  the  space  of  three  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  the  grave  is  opened  and  the  body  exhumed.  If  it  is 
found  to  be  sufficiently  decomposed,  the  bones  are  collected 
in  a  linen  cloth,  and  carried  in  a  basket  adorned  with  flowers 
to  the  church,  where  they  are  left  for  nine  days,  the  relatives 
visiting  the  church  every  morning  with  more  kolyva.  If 
the  deceased  has  been  a  person  of  some  standing  in  the 
neighbourhood,  a  Bishop  and  twelve  priests  take  part  in  the 
15— (2385) 


226  Gra      of  the  Helta 

The   bones  are  th*n 
and  replaced  in  the  grave,  or  added 

..'ar/-    in    the   oh;i.rnel -house   of   the   church. 
jf  },'  not  found  at  the  end  of  the  three  • 

fear    are  ent<  rtained 

and  i       of  entirely  abandoned 

terrible  curse  that  can  be  pronounced 

co  iched  in  the  words,  "  May  the  earth  noi 

■     For  jf  this  c  '  I  the  objed  of  it  will, 

,    :  •;.   beconu  thai  mo  *  dreaded  of  all  spectres,  a  vam 

to  induce  the  body  to  "  dissolve," 

i    arefl  p<  ated  during  another  three  jreai 


CHAPTER   XVII 

tka:  -  rej, 

To  understand  a  people  thoroughly,  one  must        .  sum  , 

tedgi         -  q      From  its  cnttun 

but  a  very  partial,  if ,  indeed 

great  masses  of  the  people  feel  and  dunk .     For  s 

work  oi  a  cull  |  live?  in  men*?  r.-.  t  is  in  £ 

but  in  th<   memory  .-:.-.. 

community,  and  owing  to  some  s 

and  c         ss    n.     But  the  rami     - 

:  in  printed  volumes 
the  I  -  generation  to  g 

their  most  preci    is  ka  -,•,;.    ge,  live  less  ii 
own  originality  than  to  th<  reshness 

^hey  |   think   with    the 

the  spontaneous  trot         less  with  which  the) 
vok*  ideas   sentiments  aspirations  act 

cherished. 

v   mythical   heroes   : 

but  the  character  of  a  man's  h;  ■ 

5  SOUH 
of  his  own  character,  or.  at  least,  of  its  poss        ties      S      s 
n  likewise  in  the  case  oi  a  people.     For  tal  s 
the  traits  of  their  character  could  not.  unaided  by  the  print 

P*635  they 

:v:  d«P*ct  genmn  s      and  in  th  - 

some  testimony  to  the  character  Jreek   folk       \ 

when  we  look  for  illustral  ans  of  n  m  the::  sol 

stories   and  their  historical  ballads  I  is    SukH  m 

generally  any  very  great  discrepancy  between  thai s 

there  depicted   and  as  it    is  depicted  in  their  mytl 


228  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

idylls  and  tales.  The  fearless  adventurousness  of  the  Greek 
mythical  heroes  could  be  fully  shown  only  by  recounting  at 
length  some  of  the  stories  of  their  magical  adventures.  Their 
other  qualities  may  be  more  briefly  illustrated.  And  in  calling 
to  mind  these  Greek  hero-tales,  the  first  thing,  perhaps,  that 
strikes  one  is  how  often  both  heroes  and  heroines  owe  their 
good  fortune  to  sympathetic  courtesy.     Thus,  for  instance — 

"  When  the  Prince  woke  up,  he  saw  at  a  distance  an  old  woman 
sifting  flour  into  a  great  baking-pan.  The  flour,  however,  fell  not  into 
the  pan  but  on  the  ground.  And  when  he  came  nearer  to  the  old  woman, 
he  saw  that  she  was  blind.  Then  the  Prince  called  to  her,  '  Wait, 
mother,  don't  sift  the  flour,  for  it  is  falling  on  the  ground.'  '  But  I 
can't  see,  my  laddie,'  said  the  old  woman.  '  Give  me  the  sieve,  mother, 
and  I  will  sift  the  flour  for  you,'  said  the  Prince.  So  he  set  to  and 
sifted  the  flour,  and  put  it  in  a  sack  which  lay  near,  and  then  asked  her, 
'  Where  are  you  going  to  carry  it  ? — Let  me  help  you,  mother.'  The 
old  woman  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  Prince,  and  said  to  him, 
'  My  boy,  for  the  favour  thou  hast  done  me,  what  shall  I  do  for  thee  ?  ' 
Said  the  Prince,  '  Mother,  give  me  your  blessing,  for  you  cannot  help 
me  in  what  I  am  seeking.'  '  And  what  is  it  thou  seekest  ?  '  asked  the 
old  woman.  '  Wilt  thou  not  tell  me,  for  perchance  I  may  be  able  to 
help  thee  ?  '  " 

The  finest  and  most  significant  of  these  courtesy-incidents 
are,  indeed,  those  in  which  one  who  has  been  bespelled 
recovers  his  or  her  natural  form  through  the  power  of  a 
courteous  act,  and  the  love  from  which  it  springs.  Thus,  in 
the  hero-tale  from  which  I  have  just  cited  a  passage,  it  turns 
out  that  the  "  old  woman  "  was  the  Good  Fate,  and  the  other 
Fates  had  blinded  her  because  she  had  never  done  evil  to  any- 
one, and  had  fated  her  never  to  recover  her  sight  until  someone 
should  be  found  to  love  and  pity  her.  And  when  the  Prince 
is  informed  of  this,  it  is  implied  that  she  had  recovered  her 
sight  through  his  courtesy,  though  he  had  been  quite  unaware 
that  there  had  been  such  power  in  his  kindly  act.  It  is 
commonly  believed  that  the  conception  of  love  as  a  power — 
and,  indeed,  as  the  only  power — that  can  transform  from  foul 
into  fair  shapes  is  a  distinctively  Christian  idea.  But  such 
stories  as  these  are,  as  every  folk-lorist  knows,  to  be  found  in 
folk-poesies  which  are  very  slightly — if  at  all — affected  by 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  229 

distinctively  Christian  ideas.  And  the  inference,  therefore, 
would  appear  to  be  that  this  is  a  conception  of  love  rather 
borrowed  from,  than  by,  the  folk.  With  courtesy  there 
naturally  goes  gratitude.  The  helpful  courtesy  of  the  hero 
begets  equally  helpful  gratitude  in  those,  whether  in  human 
or  animal  shape,  to  whom  such  courtesy  has  been  shown. 
Nor  are  such  insinuated  lessons  in  courteous  and  grateful 
conduct  by  any  means  confined  to  the  hero-tales,  but  are 
plentifully  found  on  the  lower  level  of  social  stories. 

With  the  qualities  of  fearless  adventurousness,  courtesy 
and  gratitude,  there  naturally  also  goes  truthfulness.  And 
the  only  instances  of  falsehood  and  treachery  I  have  met 
with  in  the  hero-tales  are  on  the  part  of  men  of  such  alien 
races  as  Jews,  Negroes,  and  Mongols — the  last  being,  probably 
indicated  by  the  term  Xiravos,  "  beardless,"  and — in  rare 
cases  certainly — on  the  part  of  women.  For  true  as  well  as 
fine  is  the  reply  of  a  prince  to  a  king  who,  after  being  told  a 
wonderful  story,  says — 

"  '  Consider  well,  and  don't  tell  us  lies,  or  off  will  go  thy  head  !  ' 
'  A  man,'  replied  the  Prince,  '  who  has  resolved  to  risk  his  own  life 
in  order  to  deliver  a  Princess  from  death,  never  tells  lies.' " 

As  instances  from  the  folk-tales  of  keeping  faith  notwith- 
standing the  most  grievous  loss  and  suffering  occasioned 
thereby,  take,  for  example,  the  following — 

"  There  came  up  the  Mother  of  the  Sea  on  the  foam  and  said  to  him, 
'  Why  dost  thou  sigh  so  deeply  ?— thy  sighs  wither  the  very  trees  !  ' 
'  I  am  in  despair  because  for  a  month  or  more  I  have  cast  my  nets 
without  taking  a  single  fish.  I  have  now  no  bread  to  eat,  and  my  nets 
are  torn  to  pieces.'  '  If  thou  wilt  promise  to  bring  up  a  son  of  thine 
well  nourished  and  well  taught,  and  when  he  is  eighteen  to  lead  him 
here  to  me  as  a  husband  for  my  youngest  daughter,  thou  shalt  catch 
plenty  of  fish.'  '  But  I  have  no  children  !  '  '  Give  me  thy  word, 
and  that  shall  be  my  business.'  He  gave  the  Mother  of  the  Sea  his 
word.  .  .  Months  came  and  months  went.  .  .  The  good  wife  was 
full  of  joy  that  she  was  at  last  to  have  a  son  after  she  had  given  up  all 
hope  of  one.  But  the  fisherman  was  sad.  His  wife  one  day  asked  him 
why.  .  .     He  told  her.  .  .     She  was  much  distressed,  but  what  could 


230  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

they  do  ?  for  he  had  promised.  .  .  When  this  their  only  son's  e:ght 
eenth  birthday  came  round,  the  Mother  of  the  Sea  came  out  on  the 
foam,  and  said  to  the  fisherman,  '  It  is  time  to  bring  me  the  boy.'  .  .  . 
So  the  fisherman  brought  his  son  to  the  beach,  went  out  in  his  boat  to 
the  deep  waters,  and  called  to  the  Mother  of  the  Sea,  '  I  have  brought 
him  to  the  beach,  go  you  and  take  him  !  '  The  boy  escaped.  But 
the  Mother  of  the  Sea  said  to  the  fisherman,  '  You  have  kept  your  word 
to  me,  and  shall  catch  fish  as  before.'  " 

Another  story  relates  how  a  "  Beardless  One,"  desirous 
of  personating  a  king's  son,  reduced  him  to  such  straits  that, 
to  save  his  life,  he  took  an  oath  that  "  not  unless  he  died  and 
came  to  life  again  would  he  declare  himself  to  be  the  King's  son." 
This  oath  the  Prince  kept,  though  it  brought  on  him  endless 
trials  and  difficulties,  and  finally  death  at  the  hands  of 
the  Beardless  One. 

"  But  the  Beauty  [whom  the  Prince  had  rescued]  hastened,  took 
up  his  body,  and  by  means  of  Water  of  Life  and  some  magical  word*, 
succeeded  in  reviving  him.  '  Ach,'  she  then  cried,  '  I  have  brought  him 
to  life  again  !  Now  let  come  what  come  may  !  '  '  But  how  ?  '  asked 
the  youth,  '  was  I  dead  ?  '  '  Yea,'  she  replied,  '  the  Beardless  One  at 
last  slew  thee  ;  but  I  have  brought  thee  to  life  again.'  Then  the  boy 
realised  that  he  was  finally  freed  from  his  oath— for  he  had  died  and 
come  to  life  again." 

Other  traits  of  these  Greek  mythical  heroes  are  their  honesty, 
sense  of  fair  play,  and  magnanimity.  With  the  readiness  to 
turn  his  hand  to  anything  which  is  as  characteristic  of  the 
ordinary  Greek  of  to-day  as  of  the  heroes  of  his  folk-tales, 
an  exiled  prince  had  hired  himself  successively  to  a  swineherd, 
a  shoemaker,  and  a  goatherd. 

"  One  day,  as  he  was  driving  the  goats  home  to  the  fold,  a  young 
she-goat  strayed  away  from  the  rest.  .  .  She  crossed  seven  hill- 
ridges,  and  finally  lay  down  to  rest.  And  when  the  youth  approached 
there  appeared  before  him  the  Wild  Man,  who  embraced  him,  saying, 
'  My  Prince,  for  my  sake  thou  hast  suffered  this  adversity  .  .  .  and 
now  in  return  I  will  make  thee  the  greatest  king  in  the  world.  .  .  So 
sit  thee  down  and  rest  thyself.'  '  Nay,'  replied  the  Prince,  '  I  may  not 
until  I  have  led  the  goat  back  to  my  master.  Then,  if  thou  desire  it, 
1  will  return  to  thee.'  " 

In  another  story  the  hero,  Phiaka  by  name,  meets  a  rival 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  231 

called  Yiaso,  who  proposes  a  trial  of  strength  on  the  under- 
standing that  whoever  showed  himself  the  stronger  should 
become  the  master  of  the  other.  And  Yiaso,  on  being  beaten, 
cries — 

"  '  Well  done,  my  Phiaka.  From  this  time  forward  thou  art  my 
master  ;  bid  me  do  what  thou  wilt  and  I  will  obey  thee.'  '  Then 
follow  me  !  '  said  Phiaka.  '  With  all  my  heart  !  '  replied  Yiaso  ; 
and  they  rode  on  together  and  came  to  the  castle  of  the  forty  Dhrakos." 

Nor  had  even  these  forty  Dhrakos  a  less  honourable  sense 
of  fair  play.  Phiaka  having  been  discovered  "  sleeping  like 
one  dead  " — 

"  '  That's  lucky,'  said  one  of  the  forty,  '  we  shall  sup  finely  to- 
night !  '  '  Never,'  cried  another,  '  it  is  not  honourable  to  kill  him 
while  he  sleeps.  We  must  first  awaken  him  and  fight  him  one  by  one.' 
'  No,'  replied  the  eldest  brother,  '  that  will  not  do  either,  for  one  to 
fight  against  forty  ;  we  will  challenge  him,  and  if  we  beat  him  at  feats 
of  strength,  then  only  will  we  slay  him.'  Should  he  beat  us,  we  will 
marry  him  to  our  sister.'     And  to  this  all  the  brothers  agreed. 

The  hero  having  surpassed  all  the  Dhrakos  at  feats — 

"  '  Our  word  is  our  word,'  said  they,  and  they  married  him  to  their 
sister." 

Many  examples  might  also  be  added,  did  space  allow,  of  fine 
magnanimity  and  forgiveness  of  injuries.  And  when  one 
considers  that  the  Greeks  are  not  a  reading  people,  and  reflects 
that  these  stories  form  a  folk-bible  incomparably  more  deeply 
impressed  on  the  hearts  of  the  folk  than  the  Hebrew-Greek 
Bible  which,  until  the  present  generation,  many  even  of  their 
priests  could  not  read,  it  is  not  difficult  to  realise  that,  partial 
as  may,  in  ordinary  times,  be  the  effect  on  conduct  of  the 
noble  moral  conceptions  of  this  unwritten  folk-bible,  these 
conceptions  nevertheless  exist  as  a  latent  force,  preparing 
the  mind  to  be  stirred  by  critical  circumstances  into  the  most 
daring  and  self-sacrificing  enthusiasms.  And  the  heroic 
enthusiasm  which,  throughout  the  late  war — as  during  so 
many  previous  conflicts — has  thrilled  the  breast  of  every 
Hellene  may,  perhaps,  be  better  understood  if,  among  other 


232  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

causes  of  it,  we  take  due  account  of  the  character  attributed 
to  the  heroes  of  the  traditional  idylls  and  tales  of  the  nation. 
The  two  other  classes  of  Greek  folk-poesy — the  social  songs 
and  stories,  and  the  historical  ballads  and  legends — more 
definitely,  perhaps,  illustrate  the  moral  characteristics  of  the 
Greeks,  and  not  in  their  heroic  ideals  merely,  but  also  in  their 
practical  conduct.  In  perusing  the  social  songs  and  stories, 
one  is  first  of  all  struck  by  the  testimony  they  bear  to  that 
devoted  affection  and  mutual  aid  among  members  of  a  family 
which  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  not  only  of 
the  Greek  folk,  but  of  all  classes  of  the  nation.  Very  touching 
in  their  simple  pathos  are  more  particularly  some  of  the 
"  Songs  of  Exile  "  elsewhere  referred  to. l  Nor  is  fraternal 
and  filial  love  less  passionate  in  its  practical  expression.  A 
sister  is  rescued  from  Charon  himself  by  her  brothers — 

"  Accursed  may  be  he  who  said,  '  Brotherhood  feels  not  sorrow.' 
By  Brotherhood  the  hills  are  rent,  and  torn  the  spreading  tree-roots  ; 
Out  in  pursuit  goes  Brotherhood,  and  triumphs  over  Charon. 

Then  by  her  hair  he    [Charon]   seizes   her  ;     in  terror  shrieks   the 

maiden. 
But  see  ! — her  Brothers  follow  them  across  the  mountain  passes ; 
They  fast  pursue  old  Charon  till  they've  snatched  from  him  their 

Sister." 

A  brother  rises  even  from  the  grave  to  fetch  his  sister  from 
Babylon  to  console  their  mother — 

"  And  God  has  heard  her  weeping  sore,  and  listened  to  her  sorrow  : 
The  tombstone  cold  a  horse  becomes,  and  the  black  earth  a  saddle  ; 
The  worms  are  changed  to  Constantine,   who    goes    to    fetch  his 
Sister." 

In  the  story  of  The  Riddles,  or  the  Devoted  Daughter,  a  girl, 
"  beautiful  as  an  angel  and  both  clever  and  witty,"  saves  her 
father's  life  and  obtains  his  pardon  and  reinstatement  in  his 
possessions.  In  another  story  called  Moda,  two  boys,  whose 
mother  had  been  reduced  to  the  deepest  poverty  by  the 

1  See  p.  202. 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  233 

prolonged  absence  of  their  father,  consulted  together  how 
they  might  best  help  her,  and  finally  the  elder  said  to  the 
younger — 

"  '  Thou  must  bind  me,  and  sell  me  as  a  slave,  so  that  wemay  get 
much  money,  and  our  mother  may  live  comfortably.  When  our 
father  comes  back  fortunate,  he  will  redeem  me.'  The  younger  wept, 
and  was  unwilling.  *  Thou  hadst  better  sell  me,'  he  said,  '  and  remain 
with  our  mother.'  '  No,'  said  the  elder,  '  thou  hast  coaxing  ways,  and 
the  mother  will  be  consoled  by  thee  ;  but  I  am  not  good  at  coaxing, 
and  she  would  be  more  unhappy  without  thee.'  " 

Another  thing  that  may  strike  one  in  these  social  songs  and 
stories  of  the  Greeks  is  their  singular  purity.  Passion  is, 
of  course,  ardently  enough  expressed  in  the  love-songs,  and 
some  of  the  humorous  songs  are  decidedly  coarse.  At  the 
same  time  in  the  love-songs,  as  in  the  love-stories,  there  is  a 
reticence  which  foregoes  unnecessarily  suggestive  description  ; 
and  this  is  all  the  more  remarkable  considering  the  extreme 
outspokenness  about  sexual  matters  usual  in  the  Levant. 
But  in  the  social  songs  and  stories  a  third  important  feature 
must  be  noted — the  moral  precepts  which  they  convey,  not 
indeed,  in  an  explicit  and  dogmatic  fashion,  nor  after  the 
manner  of  the  hero-tales,  but  in  homely  "wapa^vQia,  often  of  a 
humorous  character.  First,  we  may  note  the  story  of  The 
Three  Precepts,  of  which  two  are  identical  with  those  of  the 
Scottish  story  of  The  Baker  of  Beauly,  all  three  being  identical 
with  the  Tres  Sapientice  told  to  Domitian,  as  related  in  the 
Gesta  Romanorum.     These  precepts  are — 

"  Ask  no  questions  about  what  does  not  concern  thee  "  ;  "  Change 
not  the  direction  in  which  thou  hast  set  out  "  ;  the  third  being 
expressed  in  a  couplet  which  may  be  thus  rendered— 

"  Shouldst  thou  angered  be  at  night, 
Wait  until  the  morn  is  bright." 

And  in  consequence  of  complying  with  these  precepts — 
which  he  has  been  forced  to  take  in  lieu  of  wages — the  poor 
man  not  only  saves  his  own  life  and  that  of  his  son,  but  makes 
his  fortune  in  addition. 


234  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

Stinginess  is  reprobated  in  the  humorous  story  of  The 
Parson's  Pigling.  Searching  for  a  man  to  kill  his  pig,  the 
pappas  asks  a  passing  stranger — 

'  '  Dost  thou  eat  pork  ?  '  The  man  was  cunning  and  replied, 
'  Never  do  I  eat  anything  of  the  kind  !  '  '  Then  thou  art  the  man  to 
come  and  kill  my  pigling.'  He  takes  the  man  home  with  him  and  the 
pig  is  killed.  The  pappadhia  dresses  the  fry,  and  she  and  the  pappas 
eat  it  together.  For  the  man  they  cook  a  couple  of  eggs  ;  but  his 
mouth  waters  when  he  sees  them  eating  the  meat." 

In  the  end  the  man  carries  off  not  only  all  the  rest  of  the 
pig,  but  the  Parson's  horse  as  well — 

"  So  the  pappas  goes  still  on  foot,  and  all  through  his  own  fault. 
For  he  grudged  that  the  man  who  was  to  kill  the  pig  should  eat  a  bit 
of  it,  and  he  himself  got  nothing  but  the  fry." 

Coming  now  to  what,  in  view  of  recent  events  in  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  is  perhaps  the  most  interesting  division  of  Greek 
folk-poesy — the  historical  ballads  and  legends— their  most 
remarkable  feature  is  the  length  and  unbroken  continuity  of 
the  traditional  memories  of  national  history  to  which  they 
testify.  These  ballads  and  legends  also  fall  naturally  into 
three  great  divisions  illustrative  respectively  of  Byzantine, 
of  Ottoman,  and  of  Hellenic  memories — the  first  division 
dating  from  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most  glorious  period  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire  (867-1057)  ;  the  second  from  the  fall  of 
Adrianople  (1361)  ;  and  the  third  from  the  Greek  War  of 
Independence  (1821-9)  down  to  the  present  day.  But  behind 
these  folk-memories  of  national  history,  extending  over  more 
than  a  thousand  years,  there  is,  in  the  popular  consciousness, 
a  dim  background  of  a  far  earlier  period  associated  with  those 
vast  Pelasgian  ruins  found  in  various  localities  of  South- 
eastern Europe.  Such  prehistoric  cities  are  in  folk-legend 
and  folk-belief  represented  as  having  been  built  by  a  race  of 
men  different  from  the  Greeks  of  the  present  day  by  whom 
they  are  designated  "F*\\r)ve<;  oi  avSpeccofievoi — the  "  heroic 
Hellenes  " — a  race  of  giants  who  raised  in  their  hands  the  enor- 
mous blocks  of  stone  with  which  they  built  their  strongholds. 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  235 

"  He  works  like  a  Hellene  "  (AovXevyeo  aav  "EWijvck;)  is  a 
common  saying  at  the  present  day.  And  in  thus  indicating 
these  dim  memories  of  the  Hellenic  foretime,  I  would  endeav- 
our, in  extracts  from  some  of  the  more  notable  ballads  and 
legends  of  the  last  thousand  years,  to  bring  home  to  the 
reader  the  unconquerable  vigour  of  Greek  national  life  as 
testified  to  by  these  inextinguishable  memories  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  Greek  history. 

The  heroes  of  the  earliest  of  the  definitely  historical  series 
of  Greek  folk-ballads  have,  as  might  be  expected,  assumed 
more  or  less  of  a  mythical  character.  The  group  of  Byzantine 
ballads  I  refer  to  are  those  which  have  been  classed  as  the 
Andronikos  or  Digenes  Akritas  Cycle.  Formerly  believed 
to  be  mere  fabulous  personages — Greek  demigods  of  the 
Classical  period  transformed  by  the  popular  imagination — 
the  heroes  of  these  ballads  have  been  shown  by  M.  Emile 
Legrand  to  have  been  historical  personages  of  the  tenth 
century.  Andronikos  was  Andronikos  Doukas,  a  member 
of  the  reigning  Byzantine  family  and  governor  of  a 
province  in  Asia  Minor  ;  Digenes  Akritas  was  the  son  of 
Arete,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  Andronikos,  and  wife  of 
Mansour,  the  Arab  Emir  of  Syria,  who  had  for  her  sake 
abjured  Islam  ;  and  Basil,  the  son  of  this  romantic  marriage, 
was  surnamed  Digenes,  Alyevt]?- — "  of  two  races  "—from 
the  fact  of  his  parentage,  and  Akritas  from  his  occupation 
as  guardian-in-chief  of  the  eastern  frontiers  of  the  Empire. 
In  the  popular  ballads,  however,  he  is  exalted  to  the  rank  of 
a  demi-god,  and  the  character  of  the  exploits  related  of  him 
appears  to  witness  to  the  influence  of  the  old  myths  connected 
with  the  names  of  Herakles,  Perseus,  and  Bellerophon.  In 
the  following  lines  from  the  ballad  of  "  Andronikos  and  his 
Two  Sons,"  the  Emperor  Nikephoros  II  and  three  other 
historical  personages  are  mentioned — 

"  Forth  goes  he,  and  his  fame  is  great,  and  no  man  him  can  daunton, 
Not  even  Peter  Phokas,  no,  nor  even  Nikeph6ras  ; 
Nor  Petrotrachilos,  who  makes  the  earth  and  kosmos  tremble  ; 
Nor  Konstantino  does  he  fear,  should  he  in  fair  fight  meet  him." 


236  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

According  to  folk-ballad — which  is  corroborated  by  an 
epic  poem  translated  by  M.  Emile  Legrand,  Les  Exploits  de 
Digenes  Akritas — this  grandson  of  Andronikos  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty-three,  in  the  year  979.  And  a  Cretan  ballad  thus 
describes  his  death — 

"  The  throes  of  death  seize  Digenes,  and  earth  with  dread  is  trembling  ; 
And  heaven,  too,  is  thund'ring  loud,  and  upper  kosmos  quaking  ; 
How  can  the  cold  grave  cover  him,  how  cover  such  a  hero  ?  " 

In  another  Cretan  ballad,  however,  the  death  of  the  hero 
is  represented  as  the  result  of  a  wrestling  match  with  Charon — 

"  Long  time  they  wrestle,  but,  as  yet,  one  has  not  thrown  the  other  ; 
And  Charon  thinks  within  himself  by  treachery  he'll  conquer. 
Then  trips  he  up  young  Digenes,  and  on  the  ground  he  throws  him. 
And  his  poor  mother,  left  forlorn,  the  draught  of  poison  swallowed." 

Very  significant  of  the  turbulence  of  the  great  vassals  of 
the  Emperor  are  the  concluding  lines  of  a  ballad  from  Amorgos 
relating  the  imprisonment  of  a  certain  Konstantino,  of  whom 
the  other  nobles  were  jealous.  His  father  hears  of  this,  and 
releasing  him  from  prison — 

"  His  son  he  seizes  by  the  hand,  and  to  the  king  he  leads  him. 
'  O  see'st  thou  here,  my  lord  the  king,  see'st  thou  this  Konstantino  ? 
If  thou  should'st  do  him  any  harm,  or  if  thou  should'st  destroy  him, 
Then  will  I  slay  thee,  O  my  king,  yea,  with  thy  queen  I'll  slay  thee, 
Constantinople,  thy  fair  town,  with  herds  of  swine  I'll  fill  it  !  '  " 

So  far  as  they  as  yet  have  been  collected,  the  historical 
ballads  are  more  numerous  than  the  historical  legends.  But 
of  one  of  these  last,  belonging  to  Thrace  and  to  the  approaching 
end  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  (1370),  I  must  give  at  least  some 
outlines  in  a  few  brief  passages.  It  is  a  story  of  the  betrayal 
to  the  Turks  of  the  castle  of  a  Greek  prince,  betrothed  to  a 
daughter  of  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople — 

"  There  had  come  to  Stenemacho  from  beyond  the  Balkans  a  Bul- 
garian family  who  gave  out  that  they  were  relatives  of  the  Krai  of 
Bulgaria,  but  having  found  the  Ottoman  yoke  insupportable,  they  had 
left  their  country  to  seek  an  asylum  with  the  Christian  King  of  Kale. 
Some  doubted  the  truth  of  this  story.  .  .  The  King,  however,  received 
the  strangers  kindly,  and  promised  them  his  protection.     The  family 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  237 

consisted  of  an  old  man,  whose  lips  were  never  seen  to  smile,  a  young 
and  beautiful  woman,  and  a  fair-faced  youth.  .  .  Twice  had  the 
Moslems  besieged  the  fortress  of  Kale,  and  twice  had  the  waters  of 
the  dammed-up  torrent  that  rushed  below  the  castle  swept  away  the 
besiegers,  strewing  the  Thracian  plain  with  their  dead  bodies.  The 
Ottomans  at  length  seemed  to  be  out-worn,  their  camp  was  broken  up, 
and  they  retired  from  Kale  towards  the  east.  .  .  Mass  was  chanted 
by  the  priests,  and  the  people  gave  heartfelt  thanks  to  God  and  the 
Panaghia  for  their  deliverance  from  the  enemy.  But  before  the  service 
was  over  ...  a  messenger  arrived,  breathless,  at  the  foot  of  the  tower, 
and  was  drawn  up  by  a  rope.  He  brought  a  letter  for  the  King  con- 
taining these  words  :  Beware  of  the  Bulgarian  woman- — she  is  a  spy. 
Looking  up,  and  across  the  ravine,  the  King  beheld,  standing  on  a 
jutting  rock  above  the  torrent,  the  figure  of  a  woman  who,  with  out- 
stretched hand,  pointed  out  to  the  enemy  the  secret  path.  '  Accursed 
be  the  Bulgarian  !  '  he  cried.  And  at  the  same  moment  a  well-aimed 
arrow  pierced  him  to  the  heart.  As  the  soldiers  standing  near  received 
the  dying  hero  in  their  arms,  and  looked  with  rage  and  grief  in  their 
hearts  towards  the  traitress,  they  saw  that  the  King's  curse  had,  indeed, 
fallen  upon  her.  For  what  had  been  the  figure  of  a  woman  was  now 
but  a  black  and  motionless  pillar  of  stone.  And  there,  to  the  present 
day,  above  the  rushing  torrent,  stands  the  AnathematismSne." 


Coming  now  to  the  ballads  of  the  Ottoman  period,  I  must 
first  give  an  extract  from  "  The  Death  of  Konstantine 
Dragases,"  as  he  is  called,  the  last  of  the  Greek  Emperors,1 
whose  memory  is  thus  commemorated — 

'  Thousands  of  Turks  had  entered  in  by  the  Romano  gateway  ; 
And  Konstantino  Dragases  is  fighting  like  to  Charon. 
He  strikes  to  right,  and  strikes  to  left,  and  naught  can  stay  his 

ardour ; 
Amid  the  Turks  he  throws  himself,  and  death  he  sows  around  him. 
Like  a  dark  cloud  he  falls  on  them,  and  no  man  can  escape  him  ; 
'Twould  seem  as  he'd  the  Turks  destroy,  and  save  Constantinople, 
Until  a  Turk,  a  stalwart  Turk,  at  last  slew  Konstantino. 
O  weep,  my  brothers,  weep  amain,  weep  for  the  orphaned  city  ! 
Our  Konstantino  they  have  slain,  slain  him  who  was  our  standard  1  " 


1  Amid  the  swarm  of  Turks  assailing  the  walls  of  Constantinople, 
"  the  Emperor  who  accomplished,"  says  Gibbon,  "  all  the  duties  of  a 
general  and  a  soldier  was  long  seen,  and  finally  lost.  .  .  The  prudent 
despair  of  Constantine  had  led  him  to  cast  away  the  purple  :  amidst 
the  tumult  he  fell  by  an  unknown  hand,  and  his  body  was  buried  under 
a  mountain  of  the  slain." — Decline  and  Fall,  viii,  p.  171. 


238  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

But  another  ballad  of  "  The  Taking  of  Constantinople  " 
ends  thus — 

"  A  message  came  to  them '  from  heaven,  by  mouths  of  holy  angels, 
'  Cease  ye  your  psalms,  and  from  their  place  take  down  the  Holy 
Objects.' 


And  when  the  Virgin  heard  the  words,  all  tearful  were  her  eikons. 
O  hush  thee,  Virgin  !    eikons,  hush  !    mourn  not,  and  cease  your 

weeping  ; 
After   long   years,  the  time  shall  come  when  ye  once  more    shall 
dwell  here  !  '  " 

And  the  passion  with  which  this  prophecy  is  still  believed 
in  may  possibly  some  day  accomplish  its  fulfilment.  As 
here  it  would  be  manifestly  impossible  even  to  mention  the 
historical  events  commemorated  in  the  Greek  ballads  of  the 
Ottoman  period,  I  will  give  only  one  more  illustration  in 
extracts  from  a  Cretan  ballad,  entitled  "  How  the  Turks 
entered  Sphakia  " — 

'*  It  was  the  morn  of  Friday,  and  it  was  the  first  of  May, 
When  into  Sphakia  came  the  Turks,  and  sword  in  hand  came  they. 
Cursed  be  the  hour  in  which  the  Turks  thus  into  Sphakia  came, 
They  ravaged  all  the  country  round,  and  set  the  towns  aflame. 

"  When  up  into  the  market-place  the  Turks  had  won  their  way, 

A  Herald  to  the  Sphakiots  they  sent  these  words  to  say  : 
'  Come  now,  and  your  submission  make  the  Sultan's  feet  before, 
That  he  may  favours  grant  to  you,  and  give  you  gifts  galore ! ' 

'  Your  gifts  we're  well  acquainted  with,  with  tears  they  aye  o'erflow  ; 
For  ye  have  given  them  full  oft  to  men  of  Crete  ere  now  ; 
And  rather  than  accept  your  terms,  we  one  and  all  will  die  ; 
Rather  than  our  submission  make — life  with  dishonour  buy    ' 

'  Then,  then,  ye  Sphakiots    my  troops  to  fall  on  you  I'll  send  ; 
Nor  shall  they  leave  your  land  again  till  summer  hath  an  end. 
Your  children  'mong  the  rocks  you've  hid,  lest  evil  them  betide  ; 
But  I  will  find  and  take  them,  and  with  me  they'll  e'er  abide.' 


The  clergy  of     St.  Sophia. 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  239 

"'Take,  then,  our  wives  and  children  all,  our    maidens  young,  take 
tool- 
Belike  ye  may  the  victors  be,  for  miscreants  are  you  ! ' 
And  so  the  parley  ended,  and  began  the  battle's  din, 
The  fighting  fierce  and  terrible  the  earthworks  from  within,"  etc. 

The  ballads  of  the  Hellenic  period  relate  partly  to 
historical  events,  but  chiefly  to  klephtic  exploits  in  the 
guerilla  war  which  has  been  kept  up  continuously  since  the 
partial  emancipation  of  Greece  in  1829.  The  following  lines 
are  from  a  Thessalian  ballad  celebrating  a  victory  over  a 
Turkish  force  obtained  by  the  famous  patriot  Rhigas 
Pherraios,  a  life  of  whom  was,  some  years  ago,  published  in 
this  country.1 

"  '  What  is  this  evil  that's  befall'n,  and  what  is  this  great  tumult  ?  ' 
'  Rhigas  Pherraios  has  fall'n  upon,  and  beaten  yon  Moustam  Bey  !  ' 

As  many  Beys  as  heard  his  words  donned  straight  their  mourning 

garments. 
The  Sultan  ,too,  that  wretched  Prince,  still  crying  is  and  shouting  : 
'  O  cease  ye  from  the  battle,  boys  !     O  cease  ye  now  the  firing, 
And  I  will  grant  to  every  one  the  boon  his  heart  desireth  !  '  ' 

Here  the  ballad  very  significantly  ends.  Distrust  of  the 
fulfilment  of  Ottoman  promises  of  reform  could  not  be  other- 
wise more  scornfully  expressed.  And  those  who  have  com- 
plained of  the  perversity  of  the  Greeks  in  not  thankfully 
accepting  all  the  fine  things  promised  them  may  profitably 
reflect  on  the  distrust  of  promises  which  has  been  only  too 
justifiably  ingrained  in  their  hearts,  and  expressed  in  their 
ballads,  for  the  last  two  hundred  years. 

My  next  extract  is  from  a  ballad  commemorating  an  incident 
which  took  place  during  the  rising  on  Mount  Olympus  in  1878. 
In  the  charming  way  so  common  in  Greek  folk-poesy,  an 
eagle  and  a  partridge  are  the  interlocutors,  and  even  the 
decapitated  head  of  a  hero  takes  part  in  the  dialogue. 

1   Rhigas  Pherraios.     M.    E.    Edmonds. 


240  Greece  of  the  Hellenes 

'■  Three  Partridges  did  tell  the  tale,  they  wept  and  sadly  sang  they  ; 
And  on  a  ridge  far,  far  away,  an  Eagle  sat  and  questioned  : 
'  Tell  me,  dear  little  Partridge  mine,  why  wailest  thou  and  weepest  ?  ' 
'  What  shall  I,  golden  Eagle  mine,  what  shall  I  now  relate  thee  ? 

Far  better  on  the  rocks  to  die  than  by  Turks'  hands  to  perish  ! 
The  bitter  tears  the  branches  burn  ;    the  sobs,  the  wailing  anguish 
The  very  earth  do  rend,  and  run  with  Insurgents'  blood  the  torrents.' 
The  Eagle  heard  it,  and  he  cried,  '  O  head  of  Hero  ! 
I  saw  thee,  wounded  as  thou  wert,  thy  dear  dead  brother  carry  ! 


'  O  head,  dear  head,  what    hast  thou  done  that  they  have  sent  thee 
rolling  ?  ' 
'  As,  golden  Eagle,  thou  hast  asked,  to  thee  I  fain  would  answer  : 
Aweary  grown  of  slavery,  I  shouldered  my  tophaiki, 
'Gainst  Turkey  I  rebelled  and  fought,  and  Liberty  I  sought  for. 
Here,  high  on  old  Olympos'  side,  here  is  our  native  village, 
Where  e'en  the  women  bravely  fight,  and  gladly  strive  for  freedom. 
And  Turkey,  'mid  the  battle  fierce,  and  with  my  gun  beneath  me, 
Did   slay   and   stretch   me   on   the   earth,    and   she   my   head   sent 
rolling  !  '  " 

As  a  last  extract  from  these  ballads  of  the  Hellenic  period 
I  shall  give  three  stanzas  of  the  popular  Insurgent  song 
Zijtco  "EWa<? — "  Hurrah  for  Hellas  !  " 

"  O  thou,  my  sword  belov'd,  so  keen,  I  gird, 
And  shoulder  thee,  my  Gun,  my  flaming  Bird  ; 
O  slay  ye,  slay  the  Turks  again, 
The  tyrants  scatter  o'er  the  plain. 
Live  thou,  O  sword  I  gird, 
Long  life  to  thee,  my  Bird  ! 
"  And  when,  O  my  good  Sword,  I  hear  thy  clash, 
And  when,  O  my  black  Gun,  I  see  thy  flash, 
That  strew  the  ground  with  Turkish  slain, 
And  '  Allah  '  cry  those  dogs  amain, 
No  sweeter  music's  heard, 
Long  life  to  thee,  my  Bird  I 
"  The  hour  has  come,  and  loud  the  trumpets  sound  ; 
Now  boiling  is  my  blood,  with  joy  I  bound  ; 
The  bam,  the  boom,  the  glin,  glin,  gloun 
Begin,  and  loud  will  thunder  soon  ! 
While  Turks  around  me  die, 
'  Hellas  !     Hurrah  !  '     I  cry." 

A  passionate  patriotism  is  indeed  one  of  the  leading 
characteristics  of  the  Hellenic  nation  at  large.     And  every 


Traits  of  Greek  Character  241 

true  Hellene  cherishes  the  idea  of  a  New  and  Greater  Greece 
which  at  no  far  distant  date  will,  it  is  hoped  and  believed, 
consolidate  the  now  widely  dispersed  forces  of  Hellenism 
into  a  united  and  powerful  State.  Great  are  the  sacrifices 
which  have  already  been  made  to  this  end  by  the  nation, 
and  more  especially  with  regard  to  the  liberation  from 
Ottoman  rule  of  Crete  and  Macedonia.  Nor  have  the  "  Out- 
side Hellenes "  proved  themselves  less  self-sacrificingly 
patriotic  than  the  dwellers  within  the  limits  of  the  Greek 
Kingdom.  Many  of  the  finest  public  buildings  which  now 
embellish  Athens  have  been  erected  and  presented  to  the 
nation  by  private  individuals  who  have  amassed  fortunes 
abroad,  several  among  whom  have  also  bequeathed  enormous 
sums  to  the  fatherland  for  national,  educational  and  philan- 
thropic purposes.  The  forces  of  national  character  are  usually 
but  little  studied  by  statesmen,  and  with  the  consequence 
that  the  elaborate  schemes  on  which  they  plume  themselves 
are  constantly  shattered  to  pieces  by  the  forces  they  vainly 
despise.  And  such  ignoring  of  the  forces  of  national  character 
has  been  shown  to  be  especially  inexcusable  in  the  case  of 
the  Hellenes.  For  a  nation  whose  mythical  heroes  are  such 
as  we  have  seen  them  to  be,  whose  family  life  is  so  exceptionally 
strong  and  pure  in  its  mutual  ties,  whose  political  memories 
are  of  such  an  unparalleled  vigour,  and  whose  patriotism  is 
so  intense,  cannot  be  permanently  crushed. 


16— (2385) 


INDEX 


Academy  of  Science,  85 
Acciajuoli,     Antonio,      Duke     of 

Athens,  9 
Admiralty,  the,  20 
Agricultural  Society,   125 
Aigina,  Isle  of,  9 
Albanians,  9-10 
Alice,  Princess,  53 
Amaleion,  the,  206 
Amalia,  Queen,  50,  53 
Andrew,  Prince,  50,  53 
Annunciation,  Feast  of  the,  173 
Apeiranthotes,  Village  of,  2 
Archaeological  Society,  84 

Museum,  84 

Archontes,  56,  57 
Areopagus,  The  Modern,  41 
Army,  The,  30 

Athens,  146 
Athletics,  64,   149 

Ballads  of  Byzantine  Period, 
234-5-7  ;  of  Ottoman  Period, 
238-40 

Baptismal  Ceremonies,  211 

Bavurians,   1 1 

Ben  Jonson,  quotation  from,  210 

Bishops,  88 

Blessing  the  Waters,   164 

Brigandage,  46 

Byzantine  Art,  107 

Cabinet,  The  Greek,  15 
Carnival  Observances,   163-5 
Catholics,  Roman,  7 
Chalkis,  Jews  in,   11 
Chamber  of  Deputies,   14 
Charon,  221,  232 
Christmas,   160 
Christopher,  Prince,  50,  53 
Church,  The  Orthodox,  87 
Civil  Code,  The,  41 

List,  The  King's,  53 

,   The  Crown   Prince's, 

55 


Civil  Service,  The,  20 
Clergy,  The  Greek,  89 
Colleges,  Military,  36  ;  Technical, 

65  ;   Theological,  91  ;    Training, 

67-8 
Communal  Councils,  26-7 
Conscription,  30 
Cookshops,   152 
Conservatism,  religious,  92 
Constantine,  King,  49,  50,  57 
Constantinople,  The  taking  of,  238 
Constitution,     The     Greek,      14  ; 

reform  of,  18 
Corfu,  Isle  of,  5,  7  ;   Albanians  in, 

9 ;     Gypsies   in,    13  ;     Jews   in, 

11-12 
Cotton  Culture,  124 
Councils,  Municipal,  26-7 
Court  functions,  56 
Crete,  Isle  of,  2  ;    Moslems  of ,  1 1 
Criminal  Code,  41 
Currant -growing,   119  et  seq. 
Cultivation,  primitive  methods  of, 

135 
Cyclades,  The,  7 

Death  Customs,  220 

Penalty,  The,  46 

Demarchos,  The,  26 

,  ,  of  Athens,  27 

,  Rural,  28 

Demes,  25 

Dhrakos,  The,   180,  231 

Digenes  Akritas,  Epic  of,  236 

Dirges,  221  et  seq. 

Divorce,   193 

Donkeys,  158 

Dowries,  197 

Dragoiimis,  M.  Stephanos,  21,  23 

Drama,  The  Modern  Greek,  82 

Easter  Observances,   166-9 
Education,     Female,     61,     66-8; 

national,     60;      primary,     61, 

64-5 ;    secondarv,  62 


243 


244 


Index 


Elections,   Parliamentary,  15,  26; 

Municipal,  26 
Eleusinian  Mysteries,  213  n. 
Emigration,   133 
Episcopal  Courts,  89 
Evangelismos  Hospital,  The,  207 
Evil  Eye,  Superstition  of  the,  186 
Evzonoi  Corps,  31,  33,  57 
Eydoux,  General,  30 

Family  Ceremonies,  209  et  seq.  ; 

solidarity  of  the,   195 
Fasts,  93-5 
Fate,  The  Good,  228 
Fates,  The,  182,  209-10 
"  Feast  of  the  Lights,"  The,   164 
Festivals,   160-70 
Fiction,  Modern  Greek,  80 
Food,   153 
Forests,   140 

Folk-literature,  227  et  seq. 
Folk-lore  Society  of  Greece,  The, 

86 
Folk-songs,   177,  235-24U 
Folk-tales,  228 
Fountains,  Sacred,   172 
Funeral  Ceremonies,  220  et  seq. 

Gambling,  148 

Gendarmerie,  The,  39 

George,  The  Crown  Prince,  18,  24, 

53  ;    the  late  King,  49,  54 
Gounaris,  M.,  21 
Government,  The,   14,   15 
"  Great  Wallachia,"  8 
Greek  character,  Traits  of,  227  et 

seq.  ;    type,  2-3  ;    language,  74 
Gymnasia,  63 
Gypsies,   13 

Haidee,  The  Klepht,  206 
Helene  Botsaris,  203 
Heroines,  Greek,  200-3 
Historical     and      Ethnographical 

Society,  The,  85 
Holidays,   160 
Holy  Mountain,  The,   103 
Holy  Synod,  The,   15 
Home  Industries,   139 


Horse  and  Cattle-breeding,   141 

Hospitality,   155 

Hospitals,  34 

Hotels,   154 

Household,  The  Royal,  56 

Hydra,  Isle  of,  9 

"  Independence  Day,"   174 

Jews  in  Greece,  11,  12 
Judenhetze,  12 
Jury,  Trial  by,  44 
Justice,  Courts  of,  41  ;    Ministry 
of,  42 

Kalyarites,  8 
Karyes,  108 
Klithdna,  The,   190-1 
Kdlyva,  The,  224 
Koromilas,   M.   Lambros,  21,   23, 
29 

Labourers,  Agricultural,   137 
Laconia,  3 

Lake  Copais  Co.,  The,   125 
Lamia,  The,  180 
Latin  Dukedoms  of  the  Levant,  7 
Lavra,  Convent  of  the,  109 
Lavrion,  Mines  of,  4 
Law,  Courts  of,  41,  42 
Legends,  Historical,  234  ;    Byzan- 
tine, 236 
Lenten  Observances,  94,   166 
Literature,  Modern  Greek,  77 
"  Little  Wallachia,"  8 
Liturgies,  Greek,  97 

Maina,    The    "  Grapes    of,"     4  ; 

Heroines  of,  203  ;   the  Vendetta 

in,  5 
Mainotes,     The,    descendants     of 

ancient  Spartans,  5 
Malaria,   138 
Marriage,   193-6,  213 
Mavromichalis,    M.     Kyriakoiiles, 

14,   18,  21 
Mavroyennos,  Modena,  204 
May-day,   190 
Megaspelaion ,  Convent  of,   100 


Index 


245 


Merkouris,  M.  Spiros,  28 
Mesolonghi,  Heroines  of,  204 
Metayer  System,  The,  136 
Meteoron,  Monastery  of,   102 
Mezzo vo,  8 
Military  League,  The,   23 

Mission,  The  French,   30 

Mining,  127 

Monarchy,  The,  49 

Monasteries,     100    et    seq.  ;     The 

"  Mid- Air,"  101  ;   of  Mt.  Athos, 

103  et  seq. 
Morals,  Rigidity  of  Social,  193 
Moslems,  10 

"  Mother  of  the  Sea,"  The,  229 
Mykonos,  Isle  of,  7 

Naval  Mission,  The  British,  38 
Navy,  The  Hellenic,  37 
Naxos,  Isle  of,  2,  7 
Nereids.  180,  209,  219 
New  Year,  The  Greek,  162 
Nicholas,  Prince,  50,  53  ;  Princess, 

208 
Nobility,  Titles  of,  56 
Nomarch,  The,  25 
Nomos,  The,  24 
Nuns,  115 

Officers,   Military,   35  ;     Naval, 

39 
Olga,  Queen,  52 
Olive-culture,  123 
Olympus,  Mt.,  8  ;   brigands  of,  206 
Otho,  King,  5,  55 
"  Outside  Hellenes,"  The,  241 

Pagan  Survivals,   170 

Painters,  Modern  Greek,  83 

Panst^lenos,  Manoel,  107,  108,  110 

Parish  Priests,  90 

"  Parnassos  "  Society,  The,  86 

Parren,  Mdme.,  207 

Pastoral  Life,  142  et  seq. 

Patriarch,  The  (Ecumenical,  87 

Patriarchal  Customs,   196 

Patriotism,  240 

Peasants,  132-5 

Pelion,  Mt.,  Heroines  of,  205 


Periodical  Literature,  75  et  seq. 
Phanariots,  58 
Phaskelon,  The,  189 
Physical  Culture,  63 
Politics,  74 
Porto  Quaglia,  4 
"  Preachers,"  88 
Press,  The,  72-5 
Prisons,  44-7 
Products,   116  et  seq. 
Prohibited  Degrees,  213 
"  Punch,"  The  Greek,  76 

Races,  Mixture  of,   1 
Railways,  156 
Rain,  Invocation  for,   192 
Rallis,  M.  Demetrios,  18,  21,  22 
Ritual  Murders,  Jews  accused  of, 

12 
Romaika  and  Romeot,  signification 

of,  203  n. 
Royal  Family,  The,  57 

Palaces,  55,  56 

Sailors,  Greek,  130 

St.  Anne,  Hermitage  of,  110 

George  of  Greece,  175,  206 

John's  Day,   190 

Paul,  Convent  of,  112 

Salonica,  Jewish  population  of,  12 
School     of     Needlework,     "  The 

Royal  Hellenic,"  208 
Schools,  Foreign,  85 
Service,  Domestic,  200 
Sheep  and  Goats,  141 
Shipping,  Greek,  130 
Silk-culture,  126,  140 
Sirens,  180 

Social  Life,  146  et  seq. 
Soldiers,  Greek,  32 
Sophia,  Queen,  51-2 
Spano-Vanghelli,  206 
Sphakiotes  of  Crete,  The,  2 
Sponge-fishing,  128 
Sport,  149 
State  Lotteries,  37 
Stoicheion,  The,  179 
Students,  University,  70 
Surnames,  58 


246 


Index 


"  Swallow  Song,"  The,   190 
Symbolisms,  religious,  95 
Syra,  Isle  of,  7 

Tenos,  Isle  of,  7 

Theatres,   150 

Theotokes,  M.  George,      14,      18, 

21-2 
"  Three   Evils   of  Destiny,"   The, 

182,  209 
"  Three  Precepts,"  The,  233 
Tobacco  Culture,   125 
Tolerance,   10 
Travelling,   158 
Tsakones,  The,  3 
Turks  in  Greece,   10 


University,  The,  69 
Urban  Life,   146  et  seq. 

Vampirism,  183,  226 
Vatopedion,  Monastery  of,  105 
Vendetta,  The,  in  Maina,  5 
Venizelos,  M.  Elevtherios,  14,  16, 

17-19,  29 
Vlachs   or  Wallachs,   7-8;    shep- 
herds, 143  ;  encampments,  144  ; 
chieftains,  144 
Voskopolis,  8 

Wedding  Customs,  213  et  seq. 

Zacharias,  Constance,  204 
Zaimes,  M.  Alex.,  8,  21,  24 
Zante,  Isle  of,   12 


THE    END 


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